Genuine Parts Cuts FY16 Earnings View As Q2 Results Down, Miss Estimates

(RTTNews) - Genuine Parts Co. (GPC), a distributor of automotive replacement parts, reported Tuesday that its second-quarter net income declined to $191.4 million from $195.4 million a year ago. Earnings per share were $1.28, same as last year.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.29 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the second quarter dropped 1 percent to $3.90 billion from $3.94 billion for the same period in 2015. Analysts were looking for revenues of $3.97 billion.

Sales for the Automotive Group were down 0.7 percent, consisting of a 1 percent core sales decline, a 1.5 percent currency headwind and an approximate 2 percent contribution from acquisitions.

Sales at Motion Industries, the company's Industrial Group, declined 1.7 percent. Sales at EIS, Electrical/Electronic Group, were down approximately 5 percent, while sales for S. P. Richards, Office Products Group, were up 1 percent.

Paul Donahue, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "This quarter our automotive sales along with our other distribution businesses were all impacted by the challenging sales environment. We offset some of this impact with key sales and gross margin initiatives as well as tight expense controls."

Looking ahead, for the full year 2016, the company is maintaining its guidance for 1 percent to 2 percent total sales growth and is updating earnings per share to $4.70 to $4.75 from previously expected $4.70 to $4.80. Analysts expect earnings of $4.76 per share for the year.