AutoZone's Fourth Quarter Profits, Revenues Soar.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

AutoZone, Inc. reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.73, a 62 percent increase from earnings per share of $1.07 before restructuring and impairment charges in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001.

Including the charges in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001, EPS increased 621 percent from $0.24. Sales for the fourth fiscal quarter (17 weeks) ended August 31, 2002, increased 12 percent to $1.84 billion from $1.64 billion reported for the year ago quarter (16 weeks).

Excluding the fiscal 2001 sales of TruckPro, which was sold in December, total sales increased 16 percent. Same store sales, or sales for domestic auto parts stores open at least one year, increased 6.6 percent during the quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter, as a percent of sales, increased 1.94 percentage points to 45.7 percent. Net operating expenses were 28.8 percent of sales, resulting in a record quarterly operating margin of 16.9 percent.

For the year (53 weeks), AutoZone reported diluted earnings per share of $4.00, an increase of 68 percent from $2.38 in fiscal 2001 (52 weeks), excluding the nonrecurring charges in the prior year. Including the charges, reported earnings per share were up 160 percent.

The $4.00 EPS is double the $2.00 per share earned in fiscal 2000.

Annual sales rose 10.5 percent to $5.32 billion from $4.82 billion in the prior year; excluding the sales of TruckPro, total sales increased 13 percent. Same store sales for the year increased 8.8 percent.

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