Shares of Aaron’s Inc. AAN slumped 26.5% on Friday after the company reported lower-than-expected top and bottom line results for the third quarter of 2015.
Aaron’s adjusted earnings per share of 39 cents for the third quarter were flat with last year but fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents. Including one-time items, the company reported earnings per share of 33 cents, compared with 13 cents earned in the prior-year quarter.
Driven by the strong contribution from the Progressive business, Aaron’s revenues advanced nearly 10% to $767.7 million but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $781 million. The company stated that the quarter was a challenging one as evident from decline in same-store revenues at the core segment.
Comparable-store sales (comps) at the company-owned stores fell 4.1%, while customer count, on a same-store basis, decreased 2.8%. Comps at the company’s franchised stores registered a 0.4% dip owing to a 0.7% decline in same store customer count.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) surged 39.6% to $62 million from $44.4 million in the prior-year period. Also, the EBITDA margin expanded 170 basis points (bps) to 8.1%. The improvement was attributed to the ongoing cost reduction initiatives that offset the difficult revenue environment.
Segment Details
Core Business
Within the core business, the company’s Sales & Lease Ownership division posted revenues of $486.1 million, down 3.1% from the third quarter of 2014. Further, the HomeSmart division reported revenues of $15.1 million, a decrease of 3.2% from the year-ago comparable quarter. The segment’s EBITDA was $43.7 million, with the respective margin expanding 370 bps to 8.7%.
At quarter-end, the company’s self-operated stores had 1.04 million customers, while the franchisees had a customer base of 565,000. This reflected a 2.6% drop in total customer count from last year.
Progressive
Progressive, acquired in Apr 2014, contributed $266 million to revenues in the third quarter of 2015, marking a 47% increase year over year. This was driven by 16% growth in invoice volume per active door. The segment’s EBITDA was $18.3 million or 6.9% as a percentage of revenue. Moreover, Progressive had 483,000 customers on Sep 30, 2015.
Financial Position
Aaron’s ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $66.9 million, debt of $494.2 million, and total shareholders’ equity of $1,343.4 million.
During the first three quarters of 2015, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company generated cash from operations of $213.3 million.
Store Update
Aaron’s opened one company-operated Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership store and two franchised stores. The company sold three Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores to franchisees and purchased 13 Sales & Lease Ownership stores from franchisees. Finally, the company shuttered two company-operated Sales & Lease Ownership stores along with six franchised ones. Also, the company swapped two stores with third parties and merged one acquired store with existing locations.
As of Sep 30, 2015, Aaron’s had a total of 1,218 company-operated Sales & Lease Ownership stores, 762 franchised Sales & Lease Ownership stores, 82 company-operated HomeSmart stores, and 2 franchised HomeSmart stores. At the end of the third quarter, the company operated 2,064 stores in total.
Guidance
Management remains impressed with Progressive’s performance, which continued to report profitable results on the back of solid revenues. As for the core business, the company remains on track to deliver revenue and comps growth in the future.
Aaron’s lowered its earnings and EBITDA outlook for 2015. However, it reiterated its revenue and EBITDA forecast for the core segment.
For 2015, Aaron's now expects EBITDA between $308???$328 million compared with the previous guidance of $325–$350 million. Further, the company lowered its EBITDA outlook for Progressive to $103–$108 million from the prior projection of about $120–$130 million. Progressive’s EBITDA margin is expected to grow sequentially in the fourth quarter of the year.
Consequently, the company slashed its GAAP earnings guidance for 2015 to a range of $1.79–$1.99 per share from $1.92–$2.12 expected earlier. Adjusted earnings are now estimated to range from $2.02–$2.22 per share compared with the previous guidance range of $2.16–$2.36 per share.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other well-ranked stocks in the broader retail sector include Foot Locker Inc. FL, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Burlington Stores Inc. BURL and L Brands Inc. LB, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2.
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