America's Car-Mart Inc. of Bentonville announced management changes Thursday when it reported third-quarter earnings.
Car-Mart said Jeff Williams, the company's CFO and vice president, would assume the role of president, previously held by Hank Henderson. Henderson is the company's CEO.
Henderson also announced the appointment of Leon Walthall to the newly created position of field operations officer. Walthall, who has been with Car-Mart for 27 years, had been a regional vice president for the past six years and, in his new position, will oversee the company’s regional vice presidents.
"With our growth and the changes we have seen in the industry, it is time to make a few management structure changes that we believe will allow us to continue our success out into the future," Henderson said in a statement. "We are excited for Leon and Jeff and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the company."
It was another disappointing earnings quarter for Car-Mart, which reported revenue of $137.4 million compared to $131.5 million in the same quarter last year. Income for the quarter was $4.1 million, down from $7.5 million in the same quarter of 2015.
Earnings per share for the third quarter was 47 cents, down from 82 cents in the same quarter last year. For the year, revenue was $413.2 million, up from $392.7 in the first quarters of 2015, while income slumped to $8.2 million from $22.2 million in 2015.
Car-Mart reported a decline in vehicle sales from 11,495 to 11,013. Vehicle sales per store per month dropped from 28 to 25 from the third quarter of 2015 to this year’s third quarter.
"[W]e continue to struggle with our sales volumes as we haven’t yet seen relief from the operating environment," Henderson said. "There is no doubt that competition is still very intense, and January was particularly weak from a sales volume perspective. In addition to the high level of competition, we also attribute the volume challenges to us being more conservative with our underwriting and to a delay in income tax refunds this year compared to last."
