WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Pet supplies retailer PetSmart Inc (PETM) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit rose 8% from last year, helped by higher sales and improved margins.
The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations. At the same time, the company gave a sightly down-beat earnings forecast for the current quarter, but raised its full year earnings outlook
PetSmart shares are currently gaining 2.39% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $69.06, down 74 cents or 1.06%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $59.80 to $72.75.
PetSmart operates more than 1,289 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, over 196 in-store PetSmart PetsHotel dog and cat boarding facilities and is an online provider of pet supplies and pet care information.
For the first quarter ended May 5, 2013, the company reported net income of $102.4 million or $0.98 per share, compared to $94.7 million or $0.85 per share for the year-ago quarter.
On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.96 per share for the first quarter.
Gross margin for the quarter improved to 31.0% from 30.5% a year ago, while operating margin increased to 9.8% from 9.5% last year.
Net sales for the first quarter rose 5% to $1.71 billion from $1.63 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty-two analyst had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.72 billion for the first quarter.
Same-store store sales for the first quarter grew 3.5%, benefiting from comparable transactions growth of 0.8%.
Looking forward to the second quarter, the company forecast earnings of $0.82 to $0.86 per share and same-store sales growth of 3% to 4%. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.85 per share for the first quarter.
For fiscal year 2013, the company now forecasts total sales growth of 3% to 4% and earnings of $3.82 to $3.94 per share. Previously, the company forecast total sales growth of 2% to 4% and earnings of $3.76 to $3.92 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $3.91 per share on revenue growth of 3.8% for the full year fiscal 2013.
This is Chip Molloy's last quarterly earnings report as CFO at PetSmart. The company said last month said it has appointed Carrie Teffner as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective June 3.
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