and are confident this facility will allow us to more efficiently and effectively serve our customers moving forward. We continued to focus on operational improvements as we reduced inventories by $10 million from the second quarter despite higher acquisition costs related to tariffs. Additionally, we continued to drive innovation in the automotive aftermarket and released 1,055 new SKU’s in the quarter, underscored by the strong growth in our Heavy Duty and Complex Electronic product lines.”
Mr. Olsen continued, “We expect these soft demand conditions to continue impacting our results for the remainder of the year and have lowered our expectations for the fourth quarter accordingly. While these past few quarters have been challenging, we remain confident in our long-term strategy. We will continue to focus on bringing new products to market, operational execution to improve margins and free cash flow, and pursuing strategic acquisitions. Looking ahead, we firmly believe these actions will drive attractive returns for our shareholders.”
Distribution Facility Consolidation Activities
Late in the first quarter of 2019, we began the process of transferring operations of our existing distribution facility in Portland, TN to a new, nearby larger facility. Early in the fourth quarter, we executed our plan and the new facility is now fully operational. While the move had some operational challenges, we expect to improve our customer service abilities and productivity as a result of this transition. We anticipate that we will continue to incur higher costs in the fourth quarter of 2019 and expect our distribution costs to be back to more typical levels as we move through 2020. Year to date, we have incurred approximately $17.1 million of costs ($13.4 million after tax or $0.41 per diluted share) due to start up inefficiencies and duplication of facility overhead and operating costs related to our consolidation activities, with $3.6 million ($2.9 million after tax or $0.09 per diluted share) included in gross profit and $13.5 million ($10.5 million after tax or $0.32 per diluted share) in SG&A expenses.
Q4 Outlook
For the fourth quarter of 2019, we expect financial results substantiallyin-line with the third quarter of 2019, assuming the continuation of current market conditions.
Share Repurchases
Under its share repurchase program, Dorman did not repurchase shares of its common stock during the quarter ended September 28, 2019. The Company has $160.6 million left under its current share repurchase authorization.
About Dorman Products
Dorman Products, Inc. is a leading supplier of Dealer “Exclusive” replacement parts to the Automotive, Medium and Heavy Duty Aftermarkets. Dorman’s products are marketed under the Dorman®, OE Solutions™, HELP!®, AutoGrade™, First Stop™,Conduct-Tite®, TECHoice™, Dorman® Hybrid Drive Batteries and Dorman HD Solutions™ brand names.
Non-GAAP Measures
In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this earnings release also containsNon-GAAP financial measures. The reasons why we believe these measures provide useful information to investors and a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and other information relating to theseNon-GAAP measures are included in the supplemental schedules attached.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to gross and operating margin, the Company’s site consolidation activities, operational costs, the Company’s outlook, continued launch of new products, future growth, long-term value, duplication of facility costs, full year goals, net sales, diluted EPS, adjusted diluted EPS, SG&A expenses, tariffs and customer mix. Words such as “believe,” “demonstrate,” “expect,” “estimate,”