US convenience shopping chain Casey's General Stores has reported a 13% decrease in net income for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (Q3 FY24) to $86.93m, down from $100.11m in the same period of the previous year.
The company's diluted earnings per share (EPS) also fell by 13% to $2.33 in the quarter, compared to $2.67 a year previously.
The retailer's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) reached $217.61m in Q3 FY24, marking a 2% decline from $221.72m in Q3 FY23.
This drop in EBITDA and diluted EPS can be partly attributed to a one-time operating expense reduction of $15m, or $0.31 per share, due to the resolution of a legal matter in the previous year.
Despite the decrease in net income and EBITDA, Casey's inside same-store sales saw a 4.1% increase compared to the previous year, and a 9.9% rise on a two-year stack basis, with an inside margin of 41.3%.
Total inside gross profit rose by 11.3% to $501.5m compared to the previous year.
On the operational side, same-store expenses excluding credit card fees increased by 2.5%, positively impacted by a 1% reduction in same-store labour hours.
Casey's total revenue for the quarter was slightly down at $3.32bn compared with $3.33bn in the same period of the previous year.
Casey's chairman, president and CEO Darren Rebelez said: "Casey's delivered another solid quarter highlighted by inside gross profit growth.
“Inside same-store sales were driven by prepared food and dispensed beverages, with whole pies and hot sandwiches performing exceptionally well. Our fuel team navigated a rising cost environment and delivered nearly flat gallon volume and a 37.3 cents per gallon fuel margin.
“The operations team performed exceptionally well this quarter, integrating multiple acquisitions [and] reducing same-store labour hours while growing sales and driving positive guest satisfaction scores."
Looking ahead to the full year 2024, Casey's anticipates a 3.5% to 5% increase in same-store inside sales and an improvement in inside margin to between 40% and 41%.
The convenience retailer aims for its EBITDA growth to align with its long-term strategic plan’s goal of 8% to 10%.
The company plans to open at least 150 further stores in fiscal 2024.
