July 30, 2018—Monro Inc.'s operating income for the quarter ended June 30 slipped 3 percent on 6.2-percent higher sales, which the company attributed to new business from acquired stores, Tire Business reports.
Monro also announced it has agreed to become a designated tire installer for Amazon.com Inc. and that it has acquired Sawyer Tire, a Car-X Tire & Auto affiliate with eight locations in southwest Missouri.
Monro's operating income fell to $33.1 million on sales of $295.8 million, cutting the operating margin nearly a full point to 11.2 percent. Net income was up 17 percent to $20.6 million.
Monro attributed the lower operating income to higher operating expenses during the quarter, including costs related to the company's Monro.Forward initiatives and expenses related to opening 45 net new stores.
"During the first quarter, we addressed our store staffing to support improved traffic trends, reached a critical milestone in the development of our omnichannel presence with our collaboration with Amazon.com, and continued to capitalize on favorable accretive acquisition opportunities," Monro President and CEO Brett Ponton said.
Last week, Amazon formalized a tire-installation partnership with Monro, Bloomberg reports. Monro will initially offer tire-installation services to Amazon customers in the Baltimore area before expanding to more than 1,170 stores across 27 eastern states, the Rochester, New York-based company said in a statement Thursday. The company said the Amazon deal furthers its goal to capture more e-commerce business.
