Casey's Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY) Monday reported a higher first-quarter profit, helped by increased sales of gasoline and other merchandise. Both earnings and sales topped Wall Street estimates.

"We are off to an excellent start of the fiscal year driven by strong sales throughout all categories," said CEO Robert Myers. "The gasoline category of our business is performing exceptionally well in both sales and margin."

Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's posted quarterly net income of $55.7 million or $1.43 per share, compared with $39 million or $1.01 per share last year.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.26 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the first quarter jumped to $2.11 billion from $1.87 billion last year. Analysts expected revenues of $2.10 billion for the quarter.

Same-store gasoline gallons sold were up 3.2 percent with an average margin of 22.1 cents per gallon. The company's annual goal is to increase same-store gallons sold 1.5 percent with an average margin of 15 cents per gallon.

Grocery same-store sales rose 6.1 percent, and prepared foods same-store sales rose 11.9 percent.

Operating expenses for the quarter were up 14 percent at $216 million, due partly to operational initiatives Casey's has been implementing to drive inside sales.

Casey's closed Monday at $68.77, up $0.95 or 1.40%, on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock gained $0.07 or 0.10%.