PetMed Express Q2 Profit Down; Results Miss Estimates - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - PetMed Express Inc.(PETS) reported that its second-quarter of 2014 net income declined to $2.73 million from last year's $4.15 million, with earnings per share decreasing to $0.14 from $0.21 in the prior year.

Excluding a one-time charge for an IT-related discontinued project, net income for the latest-quarter was $3.8 million, or $0.19 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.21 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The one-time IT-related discontinued project cost of $1.7 million was expensed in the September quarter. The after tax net impact of this charge was $1.1 million, or $0.05 per share. There was no impact to the Company's cash flow and no further charges are expected in the future related to this discontinued project.

Net sales for the quarter were $57.6 million, compared to $60.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, a decrease of 4.8%. Wall Street expected revenues of $61.22 million for the quarter.

Menderes Akdag, CEO and President, said, "While navigating through a shortened flea and tick season, we were able to maintain increased gross profit margins and an increased average order size. For the quarter ended September 30, 2014 our gross profit increased 23 basis points, which can be attributed to a shift in sales to higher margin items...... For the remainder of Fiscal 2015 we are focusing on improving our marketing efforts to increase sales."

The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share on the Company's common stock. The dividend will be payable on November 14, 2014, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 3, 2014.