Pep Boys reports 2Q earnings increase

PHILADELPHIA The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack reported that sales for the second quarter were $500 million as compared to $552.1 million in 2007. Comparable sales decreased 7.5%.

Net earnings from continuing operations increased to $5.8 million or 11 cents per share (basic and diluted) as compared to $3.9 million or 7 cents per share (basic and diluted) in 2007. Net earnings increased to $5.4 million or 10 cents per share (basic and diluted) as compared to $4.2 million or 8 cents per share (basic and diluted) in 2007.

Interim ceo Mike Odell said, “During the quarter, we continued to improve our customer service, which is key to our future success. CSI scores increased, reflecting our “Customer First” focus. While we are pleased with the progress we made transforming our sales floors to re-establish ourselves as the dominant solutions provider for the automotive aftermarket customer, we are disappointed with our sales results, which were impacted by the disruption, coupled with the general pullback in consumer spending. However, those core automotive categories that have been re-assorted are showing positive trends. And we expect to complete the re-assortment of our core automotive categories by the end of this third quarter. Our remaining non-core clearance inventory is down to $1.2 million, and is being returned to our distribution centers for liquidation.