Sonic reported a drop in profits for its second quarter. There was a 68.4% drop in comparison with results for the same period last year. The company's profits went from US$28.2 million to U$8.9 million.

The decline in the company's profits was caused by one-time charges for retiring debt, said Sonic Automotive Tuesday. The debt retirement cost the company US$17.2 million.

On the other hand, Sonic's sales increased. There was a total of 35,400 new cars sold during the second quarter. This was equivalent to a sale of more than 67,000 new cars in the first half of 2013.

The improvement in sales represented an increase of 2% in comparison with the 34,700 new cars sold during quarter 2 of 2012. This also represented an increase of 4% in comparison to around 65,000 new cars sold in the first half of 2012.

Sonic Automotive was a Fortune 500 automotive dealer. It was founded in 1997 by Bruton Smith.