ROANOKE, Va. Advance Auto Parts announced financial results for the second quarter ended July14. Second-quarter earnings per diluted share (EPS) were $1.34, an 8.2 percent decrease versus the second quarter last year. Year-to-date, EPS was $3.14, which was an increase of 12.5 percent over the same period last year.
“As we anticipated, our second quarter faced weak consumer demand in both DIY and commercial, which resulted in our performance coming in at the low end of our outlook. The most significant slowdown was within our cold-weather markets, principally in the northeast and Great Lakes regions of the U.S.,” said President and CEO Darren Jackson.
“We remain encouraged by our positive comp store sales growth during the last period of our quarter, as well as the long-term fundamentals of our industry. As we look to the balance of the year, we continue to focus on growing commercial and competing more effectively through investments in areas such as hub and inventory upgrades, our commercial sales force and the launch of the new Advance Commercial Credit program.”
Total sales for the second quarter decreased 1.3 percent to $1.46 billion, compared with total sales of $1.48 billion during the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Advance said the sales decrease reflected a comparable store sales decrease of 2.7 percent versus a comparable store sales increase of 2.5 percent during the second quarter of fiscal 2011, partially offset by the net addition of 65 new stores.