Pep Boys posted a quarterly profit that more than doubled from a year ago, helped by promotion-driven store traffic and cost reductions.
The company reported first-quarter profit of $10.9 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $4.7 million, or 9 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Net earnings from continuing operations came in at $11.1 million. The results include a $6.2 million gain resulting from bond repurchases. Revenue fell $1.5 million to $496.5 million. Pep-Boys said comparable sales decreased 0.3 percent during the quarter.
“We are pleased with our progress and our first quarter results,” said CEO Mike Odell. “As our turnaround continues, we will build upon this momentum in the second quarter and throughout 2009. Our television and radio promotions continue to drive customer traffic and sales in our core categories and our expense reductions are making us profitable.”
“Our disciplined approach towards category management and spending reduced our Total Cost of Revenue as a percentage of sales by 40 basis points and our SG&A costs by 210 basis points in Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008,” remarked CFO Ray Arthur. “In the first quarter, we also capitalized on our strong liquidity position by repurchasing almost $17 million of the Company’s senior subordinated notes for an average purchase price of 63 cents on the dollar.”
