ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Monro Muffler Brake has updated its outlook for fiscal 2004, which ended on March 27. The company also updated its financial outlook for fiscal 2005.
The company said it currently anticipates fourth quarter diluted earnings per share to be between 15 and 16 cents, which is within the company’s previously announced range of 14 to 17 cents per share.
Full year diluted earnings per share are expected to be $1.17 to $1.19, an increase of more than 20 percent versus last year’s diluted earnings per share of 97 cents (as adjusted for the October 2003 three-for-two stock split). The company also said it expects comparable store sales for the quarter to increase approximately 2 percent versus 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter last year. Annual comparable stores sales are expected to increase approximately 4.7 percent compared to 2.9 percent in fiscal 2003.
“Throughout fiscal 2004, we continued to increase same store traffic and improve comparable store sales, which helped us to achieve the financial goals we set at the beginning of the year,” said Robert Gross, president and CEO of Monro.
Monro’s comparable stores sales for April are expected to increase between 3 and 4 percent. The company said it expects fiscal 2005 annual sales of $345 million to $355 million, with comparable store sales growth of 3 to 5 percent. This translates into record earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.40 to $1.50, based upon weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 14.8 million, reflecting a strong 20 to 30 percent increase over the company’s estimated results for fiscal 2004. For the first quarter, Monro anticipates earnings per diluted share to be between $0.48 and $0.52.
The company also said it plans to open 25 new stores in 2005, of which 20 are expected to be BJ’s Wholesale Club locations.
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