America's Car-Mart Inc. has reported second-quarter fiscal 2014 profit of $5.8 million, down about 20 percent from $7.3 million in the second quarter last year.
The Bentonville-based buy-here-pay-here used-car dealer also reported revenue of $121 million, up 10 percent from $110 million in the previous second quarter. Same-store revenue rose 3.8 percent "although the average retail units sold per dealership per month decreased for the quarter to 27.6 which is related to the intense competitive environment that we are facing," President and CEO Hank Henderson said in a Tuesday evening statement.
Diluted earnings per share came to 61 cents, down from 76 cents the year before; the average estimate of five analysts on YahooFinance was 80 cents per share.
"We are highly focused on increasing customer success and tightening expenses while ensuring that our infrastructure remains solid to support the business," Henderson said.
"We finished the quarter with 129 dealerships, an increase of 12 from this time last year. We have several new openings planned for the next few months and we continue to expect to open a total of 12 for the fiscal year," he added.
Company executives will hold a live conference call to discuss the earnings results at 10 a.m.; it can be heard by calling (877) 776-4031. Callers are urged to call in 10 minutes early. A webcast of the call will be available at the company’s website www.carmart. com. The call replay will be available two hours after the call and for 30 days afterward.