Profits drive up O'Reilly in Q4

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — O'Reilly Automotive delivered strong profits for it fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, but its same-store sales were not as impressive. The company reported that net income for the quarterincreased $17 million, or 16%, to $123 million from $106 million for the same period one year ago. Diluted earnings per common share for the fourth quarter increased 27% to 94 cents versus 74 cents for the same period one year ago. While the company did report a comps increase of 3.3% for the quarter, in the prior year, same-store sales jumped 9.2%. Totalsales for the fourth quarterincreased $81 million, or 6%, to $1.39 billion from $1.31 billion for the same period one year ago.

"We are pleased to report another quarter of solid financial results," stated Greg Henslee, CEO and co-president of the company. "As a result of our continued efforts to profitably grow sales, along with our culture of strict expense control, we generated a fourth-quarter increase in comparable-store sales of 3.3% while also increasing our adjusted operating margin to 14.7%, a 214 basis-point improvement over the fourth quarter last year."

For the fiscal year, the company reported that sales increased $391 million, or 7%, to $5.79 billion from $5.40 billion for the same period one year ago. Net income for the year increased $88 million from $419 million for the same period one year ago. Diluted earnings per common share for the year increased 26% to $3.71 versus $2.95 for the same period one year ago. Comparable-store sales increased 4.6% for the year ended Dec. 31, versus 8.8% for the same period one year ago.

O'Reilly marked fiscal 2011 with an expansion into its 39th state, the opening of 170 net, new stores and increasing its store count to 3,740. According to Ted Wise, COO and co-president, the company plans to open 180 new stores in fiscal 2012.

For the first quarter and full-year 2012, the company expects comparable-store sale to increase between 4% and 6% and 3% to 6%, respectively. For the first quarter, earnings per share are expected to be between 99 cents and $1.03, while earnings per share are expected to be between $4.27 and $4.37.