By aftermarketNews staff
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- O'Reilly Automotive has announced record revenues and earnings for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2009, representing 17 consecutive years of positive comparable store sales increases for O'Reilly since becoming a public company in April 1993.
Sales for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, totaled $1.17 billion, up 5 percent from $1.11 billion for the same period a year ago. Gross profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, increased to $570 million (or 48.5 percent of sales) from $515 million (or 46.2 percent of sales) for the same period a year ago, representing an increase of 11 percent.
Net income for the fourth quarter totaled $72 million, up 68 percent from $43 million for the same period in 2008. Diluted earnings per common share for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, increased 63 percent to 52 cents on 139 million shares versus 32 cents a year ago on 135.4 million shares.
Commenting on the company's quarter and year-end results, Greg Henslee, CEO and co-president, stated, "We are pleased to report double-digit earnings growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. Our adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 41 percent to 52 cents for the fourth quarter and increased 38 percent to $2.26 for the year. During the fourth quarter, we saw comparable store sales growth from both the core O'Reilly and acquired CSK stores. These sales gains, along with continued improvements in our gross margin, have been the catalyst for our strong earnings. Stores operating on the O'Reilly systems generated a comparable store sales increase of 2.4 percent, while stores operating on the legacy CSK system added a solid 3.5 percent increase. The O'Reilly systems comparable store sales results consisted of a 3.1 percent increase for the core O'Reilly and post conversion Schuck's stores, an 8.5 percent increase from the 123 converted Checker stores and an 11 percent decrease in comparable store sales from the 141 converted Murray's stores. We entered the next phase of our CSK integration plan with the opening of our Seattle, Wash., distribution center (DC) in November and we successfully converted 141 Schuck's stores to the O'Reilly systems following that opening. We remain confident that implementing our dual market strategy in the western half of the country will allow our acquired CSK stores to continue to gain market share and enable them to contribute positively to the profitable growth of O'Reilly."
For the year ended Dec. 31, 2009, sales increased $1.27 billion, or 36 percent, to $4.85 billion from $3.58 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008. Gross profit for the year increased to $2.33 billion (or 48 percent of sales) from $1.63 billion (or 45.5 percent of sales) for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, representing an increase of 43 percent.
Net income for the year totaled $307 million, an increase of 65 percent from $186 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008. Diluted earnings per common share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2009, increased 51 percent to $2.23 on 137.9 million shares versus $1.48 a year ago on 125.4 million shares.
Ted Wise, COO and co-president, remarked, "We began 2009 with 3,285 stores, 18 distribution centers, and a plan for aggressive growth. By the end of the year, we increased our store count to 3,421 and our distribution center count to 20, with three more distribution centers to open in the first half of 2010. We have made significant progress with the CSK integration in the past year, including the completion of 141 Murray's store conversions, 72 Checkers store conversions in the Upper Midwest, 141 Schuck's store conversions in the Upper Northwest, conversion of our Detroit distribution center and the opening of our Seattle distribution center. Following the November opening of our Seattle DC, we began converting Schuck's stores at a rate of approximately 30 stores per week, which progressed smoothly. In January of 2010, we opened Moreno Valley, Calif., the second of our planned four additional DCs in the western markets, and we began converting approximately 30 Kragen stores per week to our distribution model. Our dedicated store conversion teams will work to continue this rate of conversions throughout most of 2010. The two remaining additional DCs are scheduled to open in Denver, Colo., in March and in Salt Lake City, Utah, in May of this year. We will also relocate our current DC in Dixon, Calif., to Stockton, Calif., and convert our Phoenix, Ariz., DC to O'Reilly systems in the second half of 2010."
The company estimates diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2010 to range from 56 cents to 60 cents and estimates diluted earnings per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, to range from $2.50 to $2.56.
The company estimates consolidated comparable store sales for the first quarter of 2010 to range from 2 percent to 4 percent. The company estimates consolidated comparable store sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, to range from 3 percent to 5 percent
Henslee added, "As a result of our team's hard work, dedication and commitment to providing the best customer service in our industry, we have exceeded our stated goal of achieving $4 billion in sales by the end of 2010, a full year early. Looking forward to 2010, we see consumer concerns over high unemployment and a challenging macro environment as signs that our customers will continue to maintain their current vehicles and, therefore, drive demand in our industry. We are very encouraged with the opportunities we have to grow our market share as we continue to expand our distribution infrastructure in the Western United States and continue the conversion of our CSK stores to the O'Reilly Brand."