ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 23, 2007) — An 18-percent increase in tire service revenue helped push Monro Muffler Brake Inc.'s fiscal fourth quarter sales up 22 percent to $107.7 million.
Monro's comparable store sales rose 7.3 percent for the quarter, compared with a 0.4-percent decrease for the same period a year ago. The comparable sales rose on higher store traffic and sales increases in the alignment, tire and maintenance service categories, the company said.
The quarterly sales jump also included $11.7 million from new stores, $9.9 million of which came from the acquired ProCare Automotive stores bought in April 2006. Monro ended the quarter with 698 stores, up from 625 the prior year.
Net income for the quarter also rose 30.9 percent to $4.25 million from $3.25 million a year ago.
For the full fiscal year, Monro posted a 13.2-percent sales increase to $417.2 million as net income slipped 1.7 percent to $22.3 million. In the second quarter Monro had recorded a charge relating to its write-off of its Strauss Discount Auto investment.
For fiscal 2008, Monro expects to report an increase of sales to the range of $435 million to $445 million on higher comparable store sales of 3 to 5 percent. Net income should rise to between $28.5 million to $30 million.
“We expect solid results for the first quarter and full year of fiscal 2008 and are encouraged by the positive business trends that we are currently experiencing,” said Robert Gross, president and CEO. “…Further, our strong balance sheet enables us to pursue these actions to increase shareholder value while continuing to execute our growth strategy based on reasonably priced, value-added acquisitions. To that end, we expect to announce one or two small transactions in the first quarter of fiscal 2008.”