Exhibit 99.1
Casey’s General Stores, Inc. One Convenience Blvd. Ankeny, IA 50021 | Nasdaq Symbol CASY CONTACT Bill Walljasper (515) 965-6505 |
Casey’s Reports Solid First Quarter
Ankeny, Iowa, September 3, 2008—Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq symbol CASY) today reported earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.57 for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended July 31, 2008. Total sales rose 22.4% from the previous first quarter to $1.6 billion, and gross profit increased 5.7% to $199 million. “The results include a charge of $2.6 million related to flood damages. If these costs were eliminated, our earnings would have exceeded the record high $0.59 we reported a year ago,” said President and CEO Robert J. Myers. “We achieved excellent growth in a challenging economy, and our results give us a solid start toward our fiscal 2009 performance goals.”
Gasoline—Casey’s annual goal is to increase same-store gasoline gallons sold 2% with an average margin of 10.8 cents per gallon. The quarter’s same-store gallons sold were up .5% with an average margin of 15.6 cents per gallon, close to the previous first quarter’s all-time high of 15.8 cents. The average retail price per gallon was $3.77, up 26.1% from the same period a year ago. Myers stated, “Customer counts remained positive, but high retail prices continued to have an impact on gallons sold.” Total gallons sold rose to 317.9 million from 313.4 million; gross profit was $49.6 million compared with $49.5 million.
Grocery & Other Merchandise—The Company’s goal is to increase same-store sales 7% with an average margin of 33.2%. The quarter’s same-store sales were up 4.7%, total sales were up 5.5% to $274 million, and the average margin was above goal at 34%. Gross profit rose 5.7% to $93.3 million. “Despite increased cost pressures, we were able to maintain the margin we achieved the previous first quarter,” said Myers. “We were encouraged by the traffic inside our stores, especially in light of the adverse weather that held back sales in the first part of the quarter.”
Prepared Food & Fountain—The goal is to increase same-store sales 6.8% with an average margin of 61.2%. Same-store sales were up 12.3%, total sales rose 13.4% to $85.6 million, and the average margin was 60.5%. “Casey’s prepared foods are destination items for our customers, and we make sure our warmers are full of the products they want when they want them,” Myers stated. “Higher prices for cheese and other commodities affected our margin; nevertheless, we increased gross profit 11.3% to $51.8 million. We are confident of our core strategies for managing this category. We will continue to test new menu offerings and marketing initiatives throughout the year and use point-of-sale data to assess their impact.”
Operating Expenses—Though credit card fees rose over 34%, the Company held its increase in operating expenses to 8.9%. “Without the flood damages, operating expenses would have been up only 6.8%,” said Myers. “We are pleased that our ongoing focus on containing costs is keeping the increase in single digits.”
Expansion—The goal for fiscal 2009 is to increase the total number of Casey’s stores 4%. By the end of the first quarter, the Company had opened 7 stores. All of the openings were acquisitions of existing stores.
“We know acquisitions are a cost-effective way to grow, and we will continue to pursue these opportunities,” Myers stated. “New-store construction will accelerate in the coming months as we roll out our new store design, developed specifically to accommodate more customer traffic, make our service areas more appealing, and enhance the sale of high-margin items.”
Dividend—At its September meeting, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, reflecting the increase approved in June. The dividend is payable November 17, 2008 to shareholders of record on November 3, 2008.
****
Casey’s General Stores, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) (Unaudited) |
Three months ended July 31, | ||||||
2008 | 2007 | |||||
Total revenue | $ | 1,565,724 | $ | 1,279,342 | ||
Cost of goods sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization, shown separately below) | 1,366,701 | 1,090,993 | ||||
Gross profit | 199,023 | 188,349 | ||||
Operating expenses | 132,579 | 121,714 | ||||
Depreciation and amortization | 17,462 | 16,196 | ||||
Interest, net | 2,563 | 2,345 | ||||
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes and loss on discontinued operations | 46,419 | 48,094 | ||||
Federal and state income taxes | 17,624 | 18,143 | ||||
Earnings from continuing operations before loss on discontinued operations | 28,795 | 29,951 | ||||
Loss on discontinued operations, net of tax benefit of $7 and $112 | 10 | 175 | ||||
Net earnings | $ | 28,785 | $ | 29,776 | ||
Basic | ||||||
Earnings from continuing operations before loss on discontinued operations | $ | .57 | $ | .59 | ||
Loss on discontinued operations | — | — | ||||
Net earnings | $ | .57 | $ | .59 | ||
Diluted | ||||||
Earnings from continuing operations before loss on discontinued operations | $ | .57 | $ | .59 | ||
Loss on discontinued operations | — | — | ||||
Net earnings | $ | .57 | $ | .59 | ||
Casey’s General Stores, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollars in thousands)
(Unaudited)
July 31, 2008 | April 30, 2008 | |||||
Assets | ||||||
Current assets | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 171,470 | $ | 154,523 | ||
Receivables | 20,938 | 16,662 | ||||
Inventories | 139,306 | 124,503 | ||||
Prepaid expenses | 9,955 | 9,817 | ||||
Income taxes receivable | — | 7,751 | ||||
Total current assets | 341,669 | 313,256 | ||||
Other assets, net of amortization | 9,317 | 8,898 | ||||
Goodwill | 49,208 | 48,308 | ||||
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $609,957 at July 31, 2008, and of $595,316 at April 30, 2008 | 856,748 | 848,738 | ||||
Total assets | $ | 1,256,942 | $ | 1,219,200 | ||
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||
Current liabilities | ||||||
Current maturities of long-term debt | $ | 34,932 | $ | 34,383 | ||
Accounts payable | 175,798 | 163,343 | ||||
Accrued expenses | 64,038 | 61,373 | ||||
Income taxes payable | 4,255 | — | ||||
Total current liabilities | 279,023 | 259,099 | ||||
Long-term debt, net of current maturities | 169,629 | 181,443 | ||||
Deferred income taxes | 108,613 | 105,959 | ||||
Deferred compensation | 10,610 | 10,201 | ||||
Other long-term liabilities | 15,730 | 15,026 | ||||
Total liabilities | 583,605 | 571,728 | ||||
Total shareholders’ equity | 673,337 | 647,472 | ||||
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | $ | 1,256,942 | $ | 1,219,200 | ||
Certain statements in this news release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by those statements. Casey’s disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Sales and Gross Profit by Product
(Amounts in thousands)
Three months ended 7/31/08 | Gasoline | Grocery & Other Merchandise | Prepared Food & Fountain | Other | Total | |||||||||||||||
Sales | $ | 1,199,966 | $ | 274,049 | $ | 85,565 | $ | 6,144 | $ | 1,565,724 | ||||||||||
Gross profit | $ | 49,580 | $ | 93,288 | $ | 51,805 | $ | 4,350 | $ | 199,023 | ||||||||||
Margin | 4.1 | % | 34.0 | % | 60.5 | % | 70.8 | % | 12.7 | % | ||||||||||
Gasoline gallons | 317,873 | |||||||||||||||||||
Three months ended 7/31/07 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sales | $ | 938,019 | $ | 259,788 | $ | 75,442 | $ | 6,093 | $ | 1,279,342 | ||||||||||
Gross profit | $ | 49,477 | $ | 88,297 | $ | 46,538 | $ | 4,037 | $ | 188,349 | ||||||||||
Margin | 5.3 | % | 34.0 | % | 61.7 | % | 66.3 | % | 14.7 | % | ||||||||||
Gasoline gallons | 313,385 |
Gasoline Gallons | |||||||||||||||
Same-store Sales Growth | |||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 0.5 | % | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 0.3 | -1.6 | % | -3.9 | % | -2.5 | % | -2.0 | % | ||||||
F2007 | -2.9 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 1.4 |
Grocery & Other Merchandise | |||||||||||||||
Same-store Sales Growth | |||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 4.7 | % | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 9.1 | 11.2 | % | 5.4 | % | 3.6 | % | 7.3 | % | ||||||
F2007 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 4.6 |
Prepared Food & Fountain | |||||||||||||||
Same-store Sales Growth | |||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 12.3 | % | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 9.5 | 10.6 | % | 8.4 | % | 11.2 | % | 9.8 | % | ||||||
F2007 | 9.5 | 13.7 | 11.9 | 8.5 | 11.0 |
Gasoline Margin | |||||||||||||||
(Cents per gallon, excluding credit card fees) |
| ||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 15.6 | ¢ | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 15.8 | 13.6 | ¢ | 13.5 | ¢ | 12.6 | ¢ | 13.9 | ¢ | ||||||
F2007 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 10.4 |
Grocery & Other Merchandise | |||||||||||||||
Margin | |||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 34.0 | % | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 34.0 | 33.1 | % | 31.9 | % | 33.2 | % | 33.1 | % | ||||||
F2007 | 32.2 | 32.6 | 30.8 | 35.0 | 32.7 |
Prepared Food & Fountain | |||||||||||||||
Margin | |||||||||||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
F2009 | 60.5 | % | |||||||||||||
F2008 | 61.7 | 63.0 | % | 63.6 | % | 60.9 | % | 62.3 | % | ||||||
F2007 | 62.9 | 61.6 | 62.1 | 61.6 | 62.0 |
Corporate information is available at this Web site:http://www.caseys.com. Earnings will be reported during
a conference call on September 4, 2008. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet at 9:30 a.m. CT via the
Investor Relations section of our Web site and will be available in an archived format.