AutoZone Inc. (AZO)

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AutoZone 4Q profit slips, misses view
Auto parts retailer AutoZone posts 3.1 pct dip in 4Q profit, missing view as sales rise
On Wednesday September 23, 2009, 8:51 am EDT
Buzz up! 0 Print.Companies:AutoZone Inc.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Auto parts retailer AutoZone Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 3.1 percent, missing Wall Street expectations on tough comparisons to a prior-year period that included an extra week of sales.


AP - In this May 26, 2009 file photo, Pat Wortwick, an Auto Zone employee, works on a store display ...

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{"s" : "azo","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} The company said its gross margin got a boost from improved distribution efficiencies and lower fuel costs, but said that was offset by a shift in its merchandise sales mix to lower margin products.

Its shares fell $3.42, or 2.2 percent, to $149.50 in premarket trading.

For the quarter ended Aug. 29, the Memphis, Tenn.-based company earned $236.1 million, or $4.33 per share, down from $243.7 million, or $3.88 per share, a year ago. The per-share figures rose because it had fewer shares outstanding in the latest period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of $4.45 per share for the latest quarter.

Sales rose 1 percent to $2.23 billion from $2.21 billion and matched analysts' estimates.

Excluding sales from the additional week included in the prior year's quarter, AutoZone said sales rose 7.1 percent and domestic same-store sales -- or sales at stores open at least a year -- increased 5.4 percent.

For the full fiscal year, AutoZone earned $657 million, or $11.73 per share, up from $641.6 million, or $10.04 per share, in the pervious year. Sales rose to $6.82 billion from $6.52 billion.

During the quarter AutoZone opened 58 new stores, closed one store, and replaced three stores in the United States. It also opened 20 stores in Mexico. As of Aug. 29, AutoZone had 4,229 stores in the U.S. and 188 stores in Mexico.