SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – O’Reilly Automotive has announced record revenues and earnings for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015.
Sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, increased $174 million, or 10 percent, to $1.90 billion from $1.73 billion for the same period one year ago. Gross profit for the first quarter increased to $987 million (or 51.9 percent of sales) from $878 million (or 50.8 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago, representing an increase of 12 percent.
Net income for the first quarter increased $39 million, or 22 percent, to $213 million (or 11.2 percent of sales) from $174 million (or 10.1 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago. Diluted earnings per common share for the first quarter increased 28 percent to $2.06 on 103 million shares versus $1.61 for the same period one year ago on 108 million shares.
Commenting on the company’s first quarter results, President and CEO Greg Henslee stated, “We are extremely proud to once again report another profitable quarter and a very successful start to 2015. Demand in our industry remained strong throughout the quarter, and our relentless focus on providing unsurpassed levels of service to our customers yielded a very strong 7.2 percent increase in comparable store sales, which was on top of an increase of 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Our ongoing focus on profitable growth successfully translated these impressive top-line results into a record first quarter operating margin of 18.4 percent and diluted earnings per share of $2.06, which is a 28 percent increase over the first quarter of 2014. The first quarter of 2015 represents our 25th consecutive quarter of generating diluted earnings per share growth greater than 15 percent. Our record-breaking results are a testament to Team O’Reilly’s unwavering commitment to providing consistently high levels of service to our customers each day, and I would like to thank our over 69,000 team members for their hard work and dedication to our ongoing success.”
Henslee added that the company opened 67 new stores across 23 states in the quarter, in both new and existing markets. O’Reilly is on pace to achieve its target of 205 net, new store openings in 2015.
Henslee also announced the expansion of O’Reilly’s distribution network with plans for a new distribution center just outside of San Antonio. “Texas continues to be a strong growth market for O’Reilly, and we look forward to the enhanced level of service this distribution center will add in the San Antonio and Austin metro markets while also freeing up capacity in our three existing Texas Distribution Centers,” he said. “We are in the very early stages of this project, and anticipate this facility will open in the second quarter of 2016.”
