ATD increases sales dramatically, but suffers loss

March 19, 2015

American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc. posted a net loss of $94.6 million on net sales of $5 billion for its fiscal year ended Jan. 3, 2015. That compares to a net loss of more than $6.3 million on sales of $3.8 billion for fiscal 2013 (although fiscal 2014 was 53 weeks long, while fiscal 2013 was 52 weeks long).

The company’s operating income also down, from $69.1 million in 2013 to an operating loss of $407,000 last year.

"While the company has generated net losses during the last three years, the company expects to generate taxable income in future years based on its long-term expected profitability as well as significant unfavorable tax adjustments related to non-deductible, identified intangible assets," said American Tire Distributors (ATD) in its fiscal 2014 financial report.

"Our objective is to further expand our position as the largest distributor of replacement tires in North America and establish our company as the leading distributor in each of the key market channels that we serve, while continuing to provide our customers with a range of value-added services such as frequent and timely delivery of inventory, the broadest and deepest range of products, and other business support services." Included in its “business support services” are:

* ATDOnline, the 24/7 web-based online inventory ordering system for its U.S. customers (in fiscal 2014, approximately 68% of ATD’s total order volume was ordered through ATDOnline, up from 56% in fiscal 2007);

* TireBuyer.com, which ATD says complements and services its participating U.S. independent tire retailers "by providing them access to a sales and marketing channel previously unavailable to them";

* the Tire Pros franchise program, which enables ATD to deliver advertising and marketing support to tire retailers operating as Tire Pros franchisees. (There are 635 Tire Pros locations run by 460 owners; ATD hopes to increase the number of outlets to 700 by the end of the year.)

The company's 148-page financial report is full of interesting numbers and facts that affect tire retailers and wholesale distributors across the U.S. Don't have time to read it all? Modern Tire Dealer Editor Bob Ulrich's latest blog will save you a lot of time.

To find out what the key numbers are in ATD's latest 10-K, read "An abridged look at ATD by the numbers." Then let us know what you think by leaving a comment!