Aug. 17, 2015—Advance Auto Parts Inc. announced on Thursday its financial results for the second quarter.
The results showed that comparable cash earnings per diluted share (Comparable Cash EPS) were $2.27, which included a $0.03 unfavorable impact from foreign currency and was a 9.1 percent increase compared to the second quarter last year.
“I would like to thank all our team members for their hard work during the second quarter of 2015,” said Darren R. Jackson, CEO. “Our second quarter comparable store sales increased 1.0 percent and Comparable Cash EPS grew 9.1 percent to $2.27. These results were in-line with our expectations given the continuing demands of the General Parts integration. Our integration continues to be on-track overall along with our sales and profitability.”
Highlights from the second quarter results include a total sales increase of 1 percent to $2.37 billion compared to 2014 sales of $2.35 billion. The sales increase was due to the addition of new stores over the past year. The company’s gross profit rate was 45.9 percent of sales compared to 45.2 percent during the second quarter of last year. The increase in gross profit rate was primarily the result of lower product acquisition costs, inclusive of Advanced Auto Parts’ ongoing cost synergy savings.
Operating cash flow increased to $330.8 billion, a 3.2 percent increase from the second quarter last year. Free cash flow increased to $216.3 million through the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from $214.3 million through the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Capital expenditures through the second quarter of fiscal 2015 were $114.5 million as compared to $106.3 million through the second quarter of fiscal 2014.
“Our teams once again delivered on our synergy expectations, expanded our core gross margins and demonstrated expense discipline to grow our Comparable Operating Income 8.7 percent in the quarter,” said Mike Norona, executive vice president and CFO. “We continue to stay focused on our base business while meeting our integration milestones and remain on pace to deliver against our full-year guidance for Comparable Cash EPS in the range of $8.10 to $8.30 including achievement of our full-year synergy targets.”
