SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- O’Reilly Automotive has announced revenues and earnings for the second quarter ended June 30.

Net income for the second quarter totaled $55.8 million, up 7.5 percent from $51.9 million for the same period in 2007. Diluted earnings per common share for the second quarter of 2008 increased 6.7 percent to 48 cents on 116.5 million shares compared to 45 cents for the second quarter of 2007 on 116.1 million shares. Sales for the three months totaled $704 million, up 9.5 percent from $643 million for the same period a year ago. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2008 increased to $317 million (or 45 percent of sales) from $287 million (or 44.7 percent of sales) for the second quarter of 2007, representing an increase of 10.4 percent. Selling, General and Administrative expenses increased to $229 million (or 32.5 percent of sales) for the second quarter of 2008 from $206 million (or 32 percent of sales) for the second quarter of 2007, representing an increase of 11.2 percent.

Net income for the first six months of 2008 totaled $102.1 million, up 1.8 percent from $100.3 million for the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per common share for the first six months of 2008 increased 1.1 percent to 88 cents on 116.4 million shares compared to 87 cents a year ago on 115.9 million shares. Sales for the first six months of 2008 totaled $1.35 billion, up 7.5 percent from $1.26 billion for the same period a year ago. Gross profit for the first six months of 2008 increased to $606 million (or 44.8 percent of sales) from $556 million (or 44.3 percent of sales) for the same period a year ago, representing an increase of 8.8 percent. Selling, General and Administrative expenses increased to $443 million (or 32.8 percent of sales) for the first six months of 2008 from $398 million (or 31.7 percent of sales) for the same period a year ago, representing an increase of 11.4 percent.

Comparable store sales for stores open at least one year increased 3.4 percent and 1.5 percent for the second quarter and first six months of 2008, respectively. Comparable store sales for the second quarter and first six months of 2007 were 2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

“We are very proud of the continued high levels of customer service provided by Team O’Reilly that enabled us to achieve solid 3.4 percent comparable store sales growth this quarter,” said Greg Henslee, CEO and co-president. “We’re also very excited about the potential of our acquisition of CSK Auto Corp. and the opportunity to optimize our very complementary business models including the implementation of our dual-market strategy in CSK’s markets. On July 11, O’Reilly and CSK became one team of 40,000 members, operating more than 3,200 stores in 38 states and we’re looking very forward to beginning the integration process and working together to become an even more dominant force in the auto parts business in the western half of the U.S.”

“In addition to opening 51 stores during the second quarter, we continued to prepare for the opening of our newest distribution center in Lubbock this fall,” said Ted Wise, COO and co-president. “Our team continues to focus on the fundamentals of providing industry leading customer service to our professional installer and do-it-yourself customers in all our markets. We’re very proud of the quality of our sales growth during the quarter, which was highlighted by a 10.4 percent increase in gross margin.”

The company estimates diluted earnings per share for the year ending Dec. 31, to range from $1.50 to $1.54. Excluding the expected impact of one-time charges relating to the CSK acquisition of 7 cents per diluted share, adjusted earnings per share are expected to range from $1.57 to $1.61. Anticipated one-time charges relating to the CSK acquisition include a prepayment penalty of $6.4 million associated with repayment of existing O’Reilly debt in conjunction with the acquisition, financing costs of $4.2 million related to an interim financing facility and estimated severance costs of $3 million. The impact of the acquisition of CSK, excluding the one-time items presented above, is expected to dilute 2008 earnings by approximately 15 cents per diluted share, and this impact is reflected in both the diluted EPS and adjusted diluted EPS ranges provided above. The company continues to expect the acquisition to be slightly accretive to earnings per share in 2009 and to realize ongoing synergies of $100 million annually beginning in 2010.

Comparable store sales for the second-half of 2008 are estimated to range from 2 percent to 4 percent for existing O’Reilly stores and (3 percent) to (1 percent) for CSK stores for a combined company range of 0 percent to 2 percent. Full year comparable store sales are estimated to range from 2 percent to 3 percent for existing O’Reilly stores and (3 percent) to (1 percent) for CSK stores for a combined company full year range of 0 percent to 2 percent. CSK’s historical comparable store sales from May 5 to July 11, reflecting the period from the end of CSK’s most recently reported fiscal quarter to the date of acquisition, were (1.6 percent).