Despite increased sales for the period and year, Monro Muffler Brake Inc. had a rough fourth quarter and entire 2013 fiscal year, according to its financial results released earlier this week.
Fiscal 2013 sales came in at $732 million, up 6.6% year-over-year. But net income dropped 22.1% to $42.6 million, and operating income dropped 19.4% to $73.7 million.
For the final quarter, Monro saw sales increase 14.1% year-over-year, but net income and operating profit followed the same negative pattern: down 22.6% (to $8.1 million) and 11.4% (to $15.5 million), respectively.
Monro said the reduced earnings were at least in part due to the impact of recent store acquisitions and lower same-store sales vs. fiscal 2012.
Monro added 139 stores in eight acquisitions during its fiscal 2013, and as of March 31 carried 937 stores in 22 states.
"These acquisitions enabled us to deliver healthy growth in overall sales for the fourth quarter despite the decline in comparable store sales," said president and CEO John Van Heel, "while helping us increase our market share and achieve greater economies of scale."
Monro continues to see "attractive acquisition opportunities in the marketplace," he claimed, and plans to “pursue these opportunities in a disciplined manner as we leverage our strong balance sheet and business model to drive top-line growth and operating leverage."
