ANKENY, Iowa -- (Business Wire)

Casey’s General Stores, Inc., ("Casey's" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CASY) one of the leading convenience store chains in the United States, today announced financial results for the three months and year ended April 30, 2024.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Key Highlights¹

• Diluted EPS of $2.34, up 57% from the same period a year ago. Net income was $87 million, up 55%, and EBITDA² was $219 million, up 32%, from the same period a year ago.
• Inside same-store sales up 5.6% compared to the prior year, and 12.4% on a two-year stack basis, with an inside margin of 41.2%. Total inside gross profit increased 16.2% to $517.6 million compared to the prior year.
• Fuel same-store gallons were up 0.9% compared to the prior year with a fuel margin of 36.5 cents per gallon. Total fuel gross profit increased 15.4% to $253.6 million compared to the prior year.
• In June, Casey's increased the quarterly dividend 16% to $0.50 per share, marking the 25th consecutive annual increase.

Fiscal Year 2024 Key Highlights

• Diluted EPS of $13.43 up 13% over the prior year. Net income was $502 million, up 12%, and EBITDA was $1.06 billion, up 11%, from the prior year.
• Casey's Rewards members grew to 7.9 million by year-end.
• The Company built or acquired 154 stores in the fiscal year, ending at 2,658 stores and entered Texas, its 17th state.
• Casey's recorded strong prepared food and dispensed beverage growth driven by innovation including thin crust pizza and a refreshed lunch sandwich menu.

“Casey's started its three-year strategic plan with a record fiscal year, exceeding $1 billion in EBITDA for the first time in the company's history," said Darren Rebelez, President and CEO. “Inside same-store sales were outstanding, up 4.4%, or 11.2% on a two-year stack basis, led by strong performance in pizza and bakery as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Strong sales growth was accomplished while improving inside margin. Our fuel team achieved market share gains while striking the right balance between fuel gallon growth and gross profit margin throughout the year to drive fuel gross profit up 3.9% from the prior year. The operations team did a tremendous job driving sales growth, while integrating new stores and reducing same-store labor hours for the eighth consecutive quarter.”

Earnings

Fourth quarter net income, diluted EPS, and EBITDA were up versus the same period the prior year primarily due to higher inside and higher fuel gross profit partially offset by higher operating expense due to operating 137 additional stores.

Inside

For the quarter, total inside sales were up 11.9% for the quarter and total inside gross profit was up 16.2%. Inside same-store sales were up 5.6%, or 12.4% on a two-year stack basis, driven by strong performance in hot sandwiches and dispensed beverage in the prepared food and dispensed beverage category as well as non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages in the grocery and general merchandise category. Inside margin was up 160 basis points for the quarter primarily due to mix shift, modest retail price adjustments and strong cost of goods management.

Fuel³

For the quarter, total fuel gallons sold increased 9.3% compared to the prior year primarily due to operating more stores, while same-store gallons sold were up 0.9% versus the prior year. Fuel gross profit was up 15.4% versus the prior year. The Company sold $1.0 million in renewable fuel credits (RINs) in the fourth quarter, while the company did not sell any RINs in the same period last year.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses increased 11% for the fourth quarter. Approximately 6% of the increase is due to operating 137 more stores than a year ago. Approximately 2% of the increase was due to same-store employee expense. Approximately 1% of the change is related to an increase in accrued costs for incentive compensation due to strong financial performance. Finally, approximately 1% of the increase was due to discretionary charitable giving and a special team member bonus.

Expansion

Liquidity

At April 30, 2024, the Company had approximately $1.1 billion in available liquidity, consisting of approximately $206 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand and $900 million in undrawn borrowing capacity on existing lines of credit.

Share Repurchase

During the fourth quarter, the Company repurchased approximately $15 million of shares bringing the total for the year to $105 million. The Company has approximately $295 million remaining under its existing share repurchase authorization.

Dividend

At its June meeting, the Board of Directors voted to increase the quarterly dividend by 16% to $0.50 per share, which is the 25th consecutive year increasing the dividend. The dividend is payable August 15, 2024, to shareholders of record on August 1, 2024.

Fiscal 2025 Outlook

Casey's expects the following performance during fiscal 2025. The Company expects EBITDA to increase at least 8%. The Company expects inside same-store sales to increase 3% to 5% and inside margin comparable to fiscal 2024. The Company expects same-store fuel gallons sold to be between negative 1% to positive 1%. Total operating expenses are expected to increase approximately 6% to 8%. The Company expects to add at least 100 stores in fiscal 2025 through a mix of M&A and new store construction. Net interest expense is expected to be approximately $56 million. Depreciation and amortization is expected to be approximately $390 million and the purchase of property and equipment is expected to be approximately $575 million. The tax rate is expected to be approximately 24% to 26% for the year.

RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA

We define EBITDA as net income before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA further adjusts EBITDA by excluding the gain or loss on disposal of assets as well as impairment charges. Neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA are considered GAAP measures, and should not be considered as a substitute for net income, cash flows from operating activities or other income or cash flow statement data. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. We strongly encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.

We believe EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance because securities analysts and other interested parties use such calculations as a measure of financial performance and debt service capabilities, and they are regularly used by the Company for internal purposes including our capital budgeting process, evaluating acquisition targets, assessing performance, and awarding incentive compensation.

Because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. It therefore may not be possible to compare our use of these non-GAAP financial measures with those used by other companies.

The following table contains a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the three and twelve months ended April 30, 2024 and 2023:

NOTES:

• Gross Profit is defined as revenue less cost of goods sold (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)
• Inside is defined as the combination of Grocery and General Merchandise and Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage

This release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those related to expectations for future periods, possible or assumed future results of operations, financial conditions, liquidity and related sources or needs, business and/or integration strategies, plans and synergies, supply chain, growth opportunities, performance at our stores. There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the execution of our strategic plan, the integration and financial performance of acquired stores, wholesale fuel, inventory and ingredient costs, distribution challenges and disruptions, the impact and duration of the conflict in Ukraine or other geopolitical disruptions, as well as other risks, uncertainties and factors which are described in the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our website. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release represent our current views as of the date of this release with respect to future events, and Casey’s disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in the release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Corporate information is available at this website: https://www.caseys.com. Earnings will be reported during a conference call on June 12, 2024. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet at 7:30 a.m. CDT. To access the call, go to the Events and Presentations section of our website at https://investor.caseys.com/events-and-presentations/default.aspx. No access code is required. A webcast replay of the call will remain available in an archived format on the Events and Presentations section of our website at https://investor.caseys.com/events-and-presentations/default.aspx for one year after the call.

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Contacts:

Investor Relations Contact:
Brian Johnson (515) 446-6587

Media Relations Contact:
Katie Petru (515) 446-6772

Source: Casey’s General Stores