Monro net income drops 34 percent in third quarter

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Shares of Monro Inc. stock dropped more than 12 percent on Tuesday as the company reported a 34 percent decline in net income for the third quarter.

For the quarter ended Dec. 23, Monro, formerly Monro Muffler Brake Inc., reported net income of $11.6 million, down from $17.6 million in the same period a year ago. On a per-share basis, earnings for the quarter were 35 cents.

Excluding one-time costs of 15 cents—related to management transition costs, litigation settlement costs and newly enacted tax legislation—earnings per share were 50 cents.

Monro reported sales for the quarter of $285.7 million, down from $288.3 million in the third quarter last year. The company attributed the sales decline to a comparable store sales decrease of 3.1 percent in the quarter.

Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research had expected earnings of 50 cents on revenue of $292.93 million.

“On an adjusted basis, third quarter results were largely in line with our internal expectations,” Monro President and CEO Brett Ponton said in a statement. “By placing a renewed focus on the customer and introducing new training, technology and data-driven analytics in critical areas of the business, we will significantly strengthen our sales execution and drive operational efficiency.”

For the first nine months, Monro increased sales by 9.5 percent to a record $842.2 million from $769.5 million in the same period last year. Net income for the period was $46.5 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, compared with $51.9 million, or $1.56 per diluted share.

Monro also has signed an agreement to acquire seven stores to fill in existing markets. While the company did not disclose financial results of the purchase, Monro officials said the stores are expected to add roughly $7 million in annualized sales in the areas of service and tires.

Based on current sales, business and economic trends, Monro anticipates fiscal 2018 sales of $1.12 billion to $1.135 billion, a roughly 10 percent increase from fiscal 2017. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.88 to $1.93.

“Thus far in our February fiscal month, we’re encouraged to see comparable store sales accelerate from January levels, driven by higher traffic,” Ponton said. “With a commitment to driving improvement, during the fourth quarter we will evaluate whether to take a portion of the expected fiscal 2019 tax savings, estimated to be between 45 cents and 50 cents in diluted earnings per share, and accelerate investments to fast track our strategic initiatives.

“This underscores our confidence in our strategy, which we believe will create sustainable long-term value for our shareholders,” he added.
Company stock (Nasdaq: MNRO) had dropped to $53.65 per share in midday trading Tuesday.

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