Advance Auto sales and profits decline in third quarter
Advance Auto Parts’ replacement of top executives launched toughly a year ago, when the publicly traded company, a leading seller of aftermarket automotive parts, announced its CEO at the time would retire in early 2016.
Since then, Advance has hired a fresh CEO and a fresh chief financial officer. The company said in July that George Sherman would leave the president’s job in August and depart at year’s end and not be substituted.
On Monday, Advance reported financial results for the company’s third quarter, which ended Oct. 8. The report demonstrated that sales and profits dropped when compared with the same period in 2015.
Total sales fell two percent to $Two.25 billion, a decline the company attributed to a one percent drop in sales in stores open at least one year, some store closings in two thousand fifteen and the consolidation of some Carquest stores.
Profit for the third quarter totaled about $113.8 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, down from about $120.Five million, or $1.63 per diluted share during the same period last year.
Tom Greco, CEO and president, said in a news release that “our results are not where we want them to be” but said Advance remains “relentlessly focused” on improving sales and spectacle.
Advance, founded in Roanoke in one thousand nine hundred thirty two by Arthur Taubman, still lists the city as its headquarters. Yet most of the company’s key executives work in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In January 2014, Advance acquired former competitor General Parts International, based in Raleigh. Advance has said the integration of GPI and its brands, including Worldpac and Carquest, has been challenging at times.
Advance’s customers include professional mechanics and their employers as well as do-it-yourself clients. The company has been working to increase its share of the commercial market as the DIY market has waned, partly because of the enlargened sophistication of modern automo- biles.
In 2015, Starboard Value, a hedge fund, acquired a Trio.7 percent stake in Advance, suggesting the company was underperforming when compared with peers O’Reilly Auto Parts and AutoZone.
Jeffrey Smith, Starboard Value’s CEO, often described as an “activist investor,” is chairman of Advance’s board of directors.
As of Oct. 8, Advance operated Five,058 stores and one hundred twenty seven Worldpac branches and served about 1,250 independently wielded Carquest stores.
The company said it employs about 74,000 people, with about 1,300 working in the Roanoke region.