ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Monro Muffler Brake has announced record financial results for its third quarter ended Dec. 24, 2011.
 
Sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 increased 6.8 percent to a record $176.7 million, as compared to $165.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2011.
 
Operating income for the quarter increased 21.2 percent to $22.6 million from $18.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. Interest expense was flat at $1.2 million as compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2011.
 
Net income for the third quarter increased 22.5 percent to a record $13.6 million from $11.1 million in the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter increased 20 percent, to 42 cents per share, as compared to diluted earnings per share of 35 cents in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. This was at the high end of the company's estimated range of 38 cents to 42 cents per share.
 
Chairman and CEO Robert Gross commented, "During the third quarter, we once again achieved strong profitability despite a continuing difficult economic environment, due largely to our recent acquisitions outperforming our expectations, and continued operating leverage through a focus on cost control. We generated solid performance across many of our major service categories during the third quarter as consumers continued prioritizing repairs in order to extend the life of their vehicles.
 
"However, this was somewhat offset as we were negatively impacted by an unseasonably warm quarter, leading consumers to delay purchases, especially tires, needed to prepare their cars for winter. Overall, we are pleased with the strength of our business entering the fourth quarter, which we believe reflects the ability of our employees to consistently provide excellent service, turning new customers into loyal customers and keeping loyal customers returning."
 
The company added eight locations and closed seven locations during the quarter, ending the quarter with 803 stores.
 
For the nine-month period, sales increased 6 percent to a record $514.8 million from $485.9 million in the same period of the prior year. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2012 increased 17.3 percent to a record $44.1 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, compared with $37.6 million, or $1.18 per diluted share in the comparable period of fiscal 2011.
 
Based on current visibility, business and economic trends, recently completed acquisitions, as well as fiscal 2012 being a 53-week year, the company now anticipates fiscal 2012 comparable store sales growth in the range of 2 percent to 3 percent (flat to 1 percent adjusted for days) and is increasing its estimated fiscal 2012 diluted earnings per share to a range of $1.71 to $1.75, from the prior range of $1.68 to $1.74. The estimate is based on 32.3 million weighted average shares outstanding. The company expects its sales for the year to be approximately $690 million.
 
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, the company expects diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter to be between 34 cents and 38 cents, as compared to 26 cents for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.
 
Gross added, "We continue to have a positive outlook for the business for fiscal 2012 and the long-term. For the month of January, we experienced positive trends, with same store sales increasing approximately 6 percent, giving us confidence that the soft results we experienced in the latter half of the third quarter were mainly a result of unusually warm weather and customers prioritizing holiday spending. Overall, we anticipate continued moderate organic sales growth throughout the remainder of the year as a result of the macroeconomic environment, continued high unemployment, increased tire and gas prices and low consumer confidence. Additionally, we continue to believe that the current macroeconomic environment puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of additional acquisition opportunities. In that regard, we expect to complete the acquisition of additional stores this quarter that, when combined with the two acquisitions we already completed this fiscal year, will represent 10 percent annual acquisition growth on a run-rate basis this year. These stores are expected to be accretive in fiscal 2013."