ROANOKE, Va. – Advance Auto Parts has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended April 19. First quarter comparable earnings per diluted share (EPS) were $2.25, an increase of 35.5 percent versus the first quarter last year. These first quarter comparable results exclude 11 cents of amortization of acquired intangible assets, integration costs of 10 cents associated with the acquisition of General Parts International Inc. (General Parts) and 3 cents of integration costs associated with the integration of B.W.P. Distributors Inc. (BWP). Consistent with its comparable sales policy, the company will not include the sales from General Parts in its comparable sales results in 2014.
"The General Parts acquisition coupled with strong execution from our team members delivered comparable cash EPS growth of approximately 36 percent and an increase in comparable store sales of 2.4 percent in the quarter," said CEO Darren Jackson. "We are off to an encouraging start to the year and remain focused on our core business outcomes while making positive progress with our integration of General Parts. Together, our operational and integration momentum position our business for a strong 2014.”
Total sales for the first quarter increased 47.3 percent to $2.97 billion, as compared with total sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2013 of $2.02 billion. The sales increase was driven by the acquisition of General Parts, solid execution delivering a comparable same store sales increase of 2.4 percent and the addition of new stores over the past 12 months.
The company’s gross profit rate was 45.6 percent of sales during the first quarter as compared to 50 percent during the first quarter last year. The 446 basis-point decrease in gross profit rate was the result of the higher mix of commercial sales, which has a lower gross margin rate resulting from the acquisition of General Parts partially offset by synergy savings in the quarter.
“We are pleased with the progress we made during the first quarter as a combined team post acquisition with General Parts that allowed us to deliver positive sales performance and approximately 38 percent growth in operating income dollars,” said Mike Norona, executive vice president and CFO. “Our base business and integration work continue to progress well and our synergy work is on-track further reinforcing our confidence in driving long term value from the acquisition. Given our performance in the first quarter and the execution momentum we continue to build, we are raising our full year guidance for Comparable Cash EPS to be in the range of $7.30 – $7.50.”
