About The Pantry
Headquartered in Sanford, North Carolina, The Pantry, Inc. is the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country. With revenues for fiscal 2008 of approximately $9 billion, The Pantry continues to climb the Fortune 500. As of 2009, the Company operates over 1670 stores in eleven states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express(SM), its primary operating banner. The Pantry's stores offer a broad selection of merchandise, as well as gasoline and other ancillary services designed to meet the Company mission, “Making the lives of our customers easier.”
Our stores offer a broad selection of hot and cold beverages, snacks, fast food, tobacco products, gasoline, and other merchandise and services.
Our new merchandise initiatives over the last few years include:
• Celeste private-label water, soft drinks, sports and energy drinks
• Bean Street Coffee Company fresh coffee service
• The Chill Zone beverage and Frozen Beverage stations
• Additional franchised quick-service restaurant concepts
• Candy Lane 'power aisles' featuring Celeste private label candy
• Kangaroo private-label motor oil, film, lighters, batteries and Road Atlas
• Enhanced Prepaid Wireless and Prepaid Service offerings
• Kangaroo Gift Cards
The Pantry Announces First Quarter Financial Results
Adjusts Fiscal 2007 EPS Guidance to $2.75 to $2.90
SANFORD, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2007--The Pantry, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., today announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 28, 2006.
Total revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 were approximately $1.4 billion, a 5.0% increase from last year's first quarter. Net income was $125,000, or $0.01 per share on a diluted basis, compared with $33.0 million, or $1.45 per share, a year ago.
Merchandise revenues for the quarter rose 10.3% from a year ago, and were up 1.9% on a comparable store basis. The merchandise gross margin was 37.6%, a 10 basis point improvement from last year's first quarter. Total merchandise gross profits for the quarter were $131.3 million, a 10.6% increase from a year ago.
Total gallons sold in the quarter increased 14.0% from a year ago, and were up 2.0% on a comparable store gasoline gallons basis. Gasoline revenues rose 3.3%, despite a 9.4% decline in the average retail price per gallon, to $2.21. The gross margin per gallon was 8.6 cents, compared with 21.2 cents a year ago. Gasoline gross profit for the quarter totaled $40.2 million, compared with $86.6 million in last year's first quarter.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter J. Sodini said, "As we expected, our first quarter results were significantly affected by unusually low gasoline margins relative to our historical seasonal trends, especially compared with very strong gas margins a year ago. In addition, we faced difficult comparisons in both merchandise and gasoline sales with the post-Hurricane Katrina period a year ago in the Gulf Coast region. We are pleased to report that gasoline margins and comparable store revenue trends improved at the end of the first quarter, and the improvement has carried over so far in our second quarter."
Mr. Sodini continued, "More importantly, the strategic highlight of the quarter was the exceptional results achieved in our acquisition program, as measured by both the number and the quality of transactions negotiated."
The Company has now acquired or agreed to acquire 133 convenience stores in Fiscal 2007, more than the 113 acquired during the full 2006 fiscal year. During the first quarter, the Company acquired or agreed to acquire 67 convenience stores. The largest transactions included 24 Sun Stop stores in Florida, Georgia and Alabama; and 16 Angler's Mini-Mart stores in the Charleston, South Carolina market. In addition, shortly after the end of the quarter, the Company announced a definitive agreement to acquire 66 Petro Express(TM) stores in North Carolina and South Carolina.
"We are particularly pleased with the proposed Petro Express(TM) transaction," Mr. Sodini noted. "Petro Express(TM) has built a leadership position in the Charlotte metropolitan area, one of the most fundamentally attractive markets in the Southeast. Featuring large, state-of-the-art facilities, the Petro Express(TM) stores generate average revenues substantially above our own average."
Mr. Sodini concluded, "Including approximately 18 cents of accretion related to the acquisitions we have announced or completed so far this year, we now expect our fiscal 2007 earnings per share to be between $2.75 and $2.90. This guidance range incorporates the assumption that gasoline margins will be more in line with historical trends over the balance of the year. Longer term, we remain focused on consistently growing our merchandise business, optimizing gasoline profits, and strategically expanding the store base to leverage our strong regional market share across the Southeast."
Conference Call
Interested parties are invited to listen to the first quarter earnings conference call scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet and is accessible at www.thepantry.com or www.companyboardroom.com. An online archive will be available immediately following the call and will be accessible until February 1, 2007.
Use of Non-GAAP Measure
EBITDA is defined by us as net income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is not a measure of operating performance under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and should not be considered as a substitute for net income, cash flows from operating activities and other income or cash flow statement data. We have included information concerning EBITDA as one measure of our operating performance because we believe investors find this information useful as a reflection of the resources available for strategic opportunities including, among others, to invest in the business, make strategic acquisitions and to service debt. EBITDA as defined by us may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies because such other companies may not calculate EBITDA in the same manner as we do.
The Pantry, Inc.
PO Box 1410
1801 Douglas Dr
Sanford, NC 27330
(919) 774-6700
Employment: Ext. 5486
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