EXHIBIT 99.1
[LOGO OF CASEY'S GENERAL STORE]
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Casey's General Stores, Inc. Nasdaq Symbol CASY
One Convenience Blvd CONTACT Jim Shaffer (515) 965-6107
Ankeny, IA 50021
CASEY'S REPORTS RECORD ANNUAL EARNINGS AND SETS GOALS FOR FY2004
Ankeny, Iowa, June 10, 2003--Casey's General Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq symbol CASY)
today released earnings for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended April
30, 2003. Basic earnings per share for the quarter were $0.14; for the year,
they rose to an all-time high of $0.80. Comparable earnings a year ago were
$0.09 and $0.64. At its June 6, 2003 meeting, the Board of Directors raised the
regular quarterly dividend to $0.035 per share from $0.025. The dividend is
payable August 15, 2003 to shareholders of record on August 1, 2003.
Ronald M. Lamb, Chairman & CEO, gave his perspective on FY2003: "The drive was
to improve gross profit and to enact strategic plans to ensure the improvement
continues." Gross profit was up 10.2% to $411.6 million for the year while
operating expenses grew just 8.2%.
The Company met its annual performance goal of improving gasoline gross profit
by balancing growth in gallons sold and average margin per gallon. The gross
profit for gasoline was up 12.2% to $102 million for the year compared with $91
million for FY2002. The average margin per gallon increased to 10.9 cents from
9.8 cents. The number of gallons sold rose to 934 million from 927.5 million the
prior year.
One of the Company's technology initiatives was to have pay at the pump at
virtually all corporate stores by year-end. At the close of the fourth quarter,
920 stores were operating with pay at the pump.
Another annual goal was to increase gross profit on inside sales by raising
same-store sales 4-6% and improving the overall gross margin at least 100 basis
points to 36.4%. Gross profit was up 10% to $307 million on total inside sales
that were up 4.7% to $825.2 million. The gross margin was 37.2%, well above
goal. Same-store inside sales were up 0.4%.
Inside sales come from grocery & other merchandise and prepared food & fountain.
The gross profit on grocery & other merchandise sales of $656 million was $206.4
million, up 8.3%, and the gross margin was 31.5% compared with 30.3% a year
earlier. The largest gains were from the cigarette category. Lamb said, "The
combination of improved pricing accuracy and better inventory control translated
to the higher margin. We benefited from another technology initiative that
enabled us to scan tobacco products in every store with pay at the pump."
The prepared food & fountain gross profit on sales of $169.2 million was $100.5
million, an increase of 13.7%. The average margin was 59.4% versus 55.4% for the
previous year. The improvement was due to buying forward to lower the wholesale
cost of cheese, obtaining other products at decreased costs, making price
adjustments, introducing new food items, and reducing stales.
The Company had two more technology initiatives: implementing full point-of-sale
capability and real-time satellite communication. Both were accelerated in the
fourth quarter. At the end of the third quarter, there were 54 stores operating
with point of sale and 60 with satellite communication. At year-end, 101 stores
had point-of-sale capability and 280 stores had satellite communication.
It was a goal to add more corporate stores by focusing on purchase of franchise
stores and acquisition of competitor stores rather than construction of new
stores. During FY2003, the Company added 32 corporate stores, bringing the total
to 1,290.
Lamb stressed the expectation of ongoing improvement as he enumerated goals for
the new fiscal year:
. Execute the technology initiatives with emphasis on full point
of sale.
. Increase gasoline gross profit by fine-tuning mechanisms for
balancing gallons sold and average margin per gallon.
. Raise the gross profit on inside sales by using point-of-sale
data to build customer appeal and manage margins.
. Continue rewarding store managers for profitable store
performance.
. Use Casey's excellent financial position to take advantage of
business opportunities.
. Be more aggressive in acquiring stores.
"It's easy to credit the past year's gains to our technology initiatives, but
technology is never enough. Our results improved because Casey's management team
used these tools along with other corporate resources to enhance customer
service, create efficiencies, and make data-driven decisions," said Lamb. "If
the current business environment holds, I am confident they'll deliver another
year of record earnings in fiscal 2004."
* * *
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CASEY'S GENERAL STORES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
Three months ended April 30, Year Ended April 30,
2003 2002 2003 2002
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Net sales $ 544,681 $ 458,515 $ 2,155,606 $ 2,032,226
Franchise revenue 505 662 2,451 3,059
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Total revenue $ 545,186 $ 459,177 $ 2,158,057 $ 2,035,285
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Cost of goods sold $ 446,811 $ 369,565 $ 1,743,971 $ 1,658,511
Operating expenses 72,121 67,713 290,801 268,766
Depreciation and
amortization 11,983 11,506 47,299 44,702
Interest, net 3,230 3,424 13,030 12,756
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
$ 534,145 $ 452,208 $ 2,095,101 $ 1,984,735
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Income before income taxes $ 11,041 $ 6,969 $ 62,956 $ 50,550
Federal and state income
taxes 4,108 2,593 23,420 18,805
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Net income $ 6,933 $ 4,376 $ 39,536 $ 31,745
=============== =============== =============== ===============
Basic earnings per share $ .14 $ .09 $ .80 $ .64
Weighted average shares
outstanding 49,657 49,618 49,643 49,553
Diluted earnings per share $ .14 .09 $ .80 $ .64
Weighted average shares
outstanding 49,728 49,764 49,720 49,692
CASEY'S GENERAL STORES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Dollars in thousands)
APRIL 30, April 30,
2003 2002
---------- ----------
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 40,544 $ 18,946
Short-term investments -- 10
Receivables 5,742 5,127
Inventories 63,009 60,498
Prepaid expenses 4,590 3,816
Income taxes receivable 2,989 9,222
---------- ----------
Total current assets $ 116,874 $ 97,619
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other assets, net of amortization 808 992
Property and equipment, net of
accumulated depreciation
April 30, 2003 $368,123
April 30, 2002 $324,936 657,643 636,644
---------- ----------
Total assets $ 775,325 $ 735,255
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LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities
Notes payable $ -- $ 5,275
Current maturities of long-term debt 19,897 9,648
Accounts payable 64,880 69,912
Accrued expenses 32,561 27,238
---------- ----------
Total current liabilities $ 117,338 $ 112,073
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long-term debt, net of
current maturities $ 162,394 $ 173,797
Deferred income taxes 86,871 75,786
Deferred compensation 4,484 4,380
---------- ----------
Total liabilities $ 371,087 $ 366,036
---------- ----------
Total shareholders' equity 404,238 369,219
---------- ----------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 775,325 $ 735,255
============================================================================
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
(Dollars in thousands)
GROCERY & OTHER PREPARED FOOD
GASOLINE MERCHANDISE & FOUNTAIN OTHER TOTAL
--------------- --------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Fiscal Year Ended
04/30/03
Sales $ 1,290,094 $ 655,977 $ 169,228 $ 40,307 $ 2,155,606
Gross profit $ 102,030 $ 206,446 $ 100,513 $ 2,646 $ 411,635
Margin 7.9% 31.5% 59.4% 6.6% 19.1%
Fiscal Year Ended
04/30/02
Sales $ 1,191,157 $ 628,586 $ 159,475 $ 53,008 $ 2,032,226
Gross profit $ 90,911 $ 190,592 $ 88,378 $ 3,835 $ 373,716
Margin 7.6% 30.3% 55.4% 7.2% 18.4%
GASOLINE GALLONS
SAME STORE SALES GROWTH
(Stores open for at least one full year)
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 -5.5% -5.1% -4.4% 4.1% -3.0%
F2002 6.3 11.5 17.7 2.0 9.2
F2001 -1.2 -6.0 -10.7 -4.7 -5.6
F2000 2.0 3.6 4.7 3.7 3.5
GASOLINE MARGIN
(Cents per gallon)
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 9.9CENTS 11.3CENTS 11.2CENTS 11.4CENTS 10.9CENTS
F2002 9.5 11.3 8.3 10.1 9.8
F2001 13.3 12.1 11.6 7.9 11.3
F2000 9.9 10.4 9.0 11.4 10.2
GROCERY & OTHER MERCHANDISE
SAME STORE SALES GROWTH
(Stores open for at least one full year)
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 4.2% 0.8% -3.1% -1.9% 0.2%
F2002 8.7 10.6 19.0 9.7 11.7
F2001 5.1 0.3 -6.4 -2.2 -0.6
F2000 11.0 14.6 16.3 16.8 14.5
GROCERY & OTHER MERCHANDISE
MARGIN
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 31.0% 33.0% 30.6% 31.2% 31.5%
F2002 32.9 30.6 27.0 30.4 30.3
F2001 32.1 34.3 32.4 30.7 32.4
F2000 32.5 31.8 30.4 29.1 31.0
PREPARED FOOD & FOUNTAIN
SAME STORE SALES GROWTH
(Stores open for at least one full year)
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 2.8% 2.0% -2.9% 2.4% 1.1%
F2002 7.0 7.6 15.4 3.5 8.3
F2001 3.0 2.9 2.0 3.7 2.9
F2000 -2.9 -2.4 -1.2 4.1 -0.1
PREPARED FOOD & FOUNTAIN
MARGIN
Fiscal
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
F2003 59.1% 60.1% 60.3% 58.0% 59.4%
F2002 54.9 53.9 56.8 56.2 55.4
F2001 57.3 56.9 56.6 54.3 56.3
F2000 57.2 56.9 56.2 56.4 56.7
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Corporate information is available at this Web site: http://www.caseys.com.
Earnings will be reported during a conference call on June 11, 2003. The call
will be broadcast live over the Internet at 9:30 AM CDT via the Investor
Relations section of our website and will be available in an archived format.