COVID-19 had a big effect on Monro Inc.’s financial results for the first three months of 2022. CEO Mike Broderick says one-third of the company’s stores were affected. “January was a very difficult month.”
Yet, Monro recorded a slight year-over-year increase in January. Broderick said, “It was significantly below our internal expectations.”
"We had a tough fourth (fiscal) quarter."
The soft sales lasted through the first couple weeks of February. In the interim, Monro was left to shuffle staff from one store to another and spend money on overtime wages.
Even though the company was left short-handed in many stores due to COVID-19 — mostly during the first six weeks of the calendar year — by the end of March, the company had hired 200 technicians “to meet growing demand.”
Monro also says it has continued to make progress on in-store strategic initiatives that encompass “staffing, training and productivity.”
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For the quarter ending March 26, 2022, Monro reported sales of $328 million, compared to $305.5 million a year ago. Of that increase, $19 million was attributed to stores acquired in the last year. Comparable store sales were up 1.4% in the period. A year ago, same-store sales were up 9.4%.
March marks the end of Monro’s 2022 fiscal year. For the year, sales grew 20.8%, and hit just shy of $1.4 billion, up from $1.1 billion in fiscal 2021.
For the year, same-store sales were up 15.2%. A year ago, comparable store sales were down 11.1%.
Operating income for the quarter was $11.5 million, or 2.5% of sales, down from $20.7 million and 6.8% of sales a year ago.
For the fiscal year, operating income was $101.3 million, or 7.5% of sales, compared to $72.2 million and 6.4% of sales in the prior year.
Net income in Monro’s fourth fiscal quarter totaled $8.6 million, compared to $11.8 million a year ago. For the year, net income was $61.6 million, compared to $34.3 million for fiscal 2021.
Performance by Category
Here's a look at Monro's performance, by category, for the fourth quarter, and for the fiscal year that ended in March. This reflects same-store sales, but not stores acquired in the last 12 months.
| Fiscal fourth quarter | Fiscal year 2022 | |
| Brakes | +2% | +29% |
| Maintenance services | Flat | +16% |
| Front end/shocks | Flat | +16% |
| Tires | -1% | +11% |
| Alignments | -1% | +26% |
