BENTONVILLE – America’s Car-Mart Inc. of Bentonville on Monday reported fiscal 2017 third-quarter income of $2.8 million, down from $4.1 million in reported in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue was up slightly to $138.7 million in 2017 from $137.4 last year. Earnings per share was 35 cents, down from 47 cents a share in the same quarter of 2016.
The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 69 cents per share, according to The Associated Press.
A year ago, Car-Mart had 147 stores in the third quarter compared to 143 this quarter. Same-store revenue growth, however, rose to 1.1 percent in the quarter, compared to no growth a year ago.
“Even though we did see a small top line increase with same store revenue increasing 1.1 percent, we were a little disappointed with our top line for the quarter,” said CEO Hank Henderson, who said the sluggishness was likely because of delayed income tax refunds.
Henderson said the company believes it will be able to add new dealerships in the future after its current stores improve. Henderson said Car-Mart was in the process of closing three additional dealerships this coming quarter and he “anticipates” additional closings.
Car-Mart reported selling 10,866 units in the third quarter of fiscal 2017, down from 11,013 it sold in the same quarter a year ago. Because Car-Mart operates fewer dealerships, the number of vehicles sold per store per month rose slightly from 25 to 25.3 while the average sale price rose $30 to $10.629.
America’s Car-Mart shares (Nasdaq: CRMT) have fallen 11 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased 52 percent in the last 12 months.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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