Casey's General Stores Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Casey's General Stores Inc (CASY) on Monday reported an increase in profit for the fourth quarter, driven largely by better margins, as both earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates.

Commenting on the results, CEO Robert Myers said, "Sales were strong throughout all of our categories, and the Company is poised to grow the business in fiscal 2016 with a variety of initiatives to improve the existing store base, while at the same time building and acquiring more stores."

Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's fourth-quarter profit surged to $41.3 million or $1.05 per share from $20.9 million or $0.54 per share a year ago. On average, ten analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.85 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the fourth quarter dropped to $1.65 billion from $1.92 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.62 billion for the quarter.

For the quarter, the company's same-store gallons rose 3.5 percent with an average margin of 16.9 cents per gallon. "Same-store gallons sold are benefiting from lower retail fuel prices," said Myers. "The steady fall in wholesale cost midyear along with favorable renewable fuel credits contributed to a record high fuel margin for the year."

As for grocery and other merchandise, same-store sales were up 9.7 percent with an average margin of 32.1 percent, while same-store sales for prepared food and fountain were up 13.5 percent with an average margin of 60.9 percent.

The Casey's increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, payable on August 17 to shareholders of record on August 3.

CASY closed Monday's trading at $87.26, down $0.41 or 0.47% on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $3.23 or 3.70% in the after-hours trade.