Monro Muffler Brake Inc. posted record sales of $112 million for its fiscal 2008 second quarter, a 4.4% increase over the second quarter of 2007. Monro's tire sales grew by 5%.
"Sales for the quarter were impacted by a challenging economy and weak consumer confidence which caused slow-downs in the purchases of certain higher ticket items such as tires and brakes," say Monro officials.
"However, purchases in these product categories improved late in the quarter, driving up comparable store sales growth."
Approximately $3.5 million in sales were generated by Fairfax, Va.-basd Craven Tire & Auto and King of Prussia, Pa.-based Valley Forge Tire stores that Monro acquired this past summer.
Monro's net income for the quarter totaled $6.5 million, up from $5.6 million during the second quarter of 2007.
However, the company's operating income for the quarter was $11.8 million versus $12 million in the prior year's second quarter.
For the first six months of the year, Monro's net sales increased 6.8% to $219.7 million. Its net income was $14.7 million, compared with $13.2 million posted during the same period last year.
"While I am not satisfied with our second quarter performance, our results were impacted by a challenging economy and weak consumer confidence which had the effect of delaying big ticket purchases," says Monro CEO and President Robert Gross.
"However, we are pleased that as the external environment improved late in the quarter, we saw our results improve and begin to resume to normalized patterns."
