LITTLE ROCK — Car-Mart 4th quarter sees net income rise
America’s Car-Mart Inc. of Bentonville reported fourth-quarter net income Thursday of $9.6 million, or 97 cents per share, for the period that ended April 30, up from $8.4 million, or 78 cents a share, a year ago.
The buy-here, pay-here dealer said revenue for the quarter rose 9.8 percent to $113.5 million from $103.4 million. Sales at car lots open at least a year grew by 5.5 percent.
The company’s provision for credit losses was unchanged at 19.1 percent of sales. During the period, the company repurchased 210,428 shares of stock, or 2.2 percent, for $9.4 million.
For the full year, Car-Mart posted net income of $33 million, or $3.24 per share, up from $28.2 million, or $2.54 per share, the previous year.
Vehicle sales for the year rose to 37,772 from 34,424 a year ago.
Car-Mart’s stock closed Thursday at $45.02, up $1.77, or 4.09 percent, on the Nasdaq. The stock has traded between $23.99 and $48.24 in the past year.
80-90 jobs in store at new Fresh Market
The Fresh Market Inc., an upscale supermarket chain of 116 stores based in Greensboro, N.C., plans to open a store this summer at 2203 Promenade Blvd.
in Rogers, creating 80 to 90 jobs.
The company’s stores, at 19,000 to 22,000 square feet, are smaller than a typical supermarket.
Spokesman Jordan Worrall said the stores feature a wide range of fresh produce, meats cut to order, prepared salads and a full delicatessen.
As the company prepares to open the new store, it plans an open house for job applicants from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 6 at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center, 3303 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers. Those seeking jobs at the open house will be required to apply online in advance at thefreshmarket.com/careers.
The only other Fresh Market store in Arkansas is at 11525 Cantrell Road in Little Rock.
Like U.S. stocks, state
index closes higher
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.88 to 224.85 Thursday.
“U.S. stocks once again made a late-day reversal and finished mostly higher with only the Nasdaq finishing in negative territory after comments from Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that he expected Greece to stay in the eurozone,” said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc.
in Little Rock. “The Arkansas Index moved higher as 11 stocks advanced and five declined.”
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 27 on 05/25/2012