Casey's Third Quarter Diluted EPS Up 14% from Prior Year

ANKENY, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Casey’s General Stores, Inc. ("Casey's" or the "Company") (Nasdaq symbol CASY) one of the leading convenience store chains in the United States, today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2021.

Third Quarter Key Highlights

• Diluted EPS of $1.04 compared to $0.91 for the same period a year ago, an increase of 14%.
• Fuel gross profit increased 37% with a fuel margin of 32.9 cents per gallon. Fuel same-store gallons sold decreased 12.1% compared to the same period last year.
• Inside same-store sales increased 2.1% compared to prior year with a margin of 39.6%.
• Digital sales increased 95% compared to prior year. Casey’s Rewards now exceeds 3.3 million members.
• Casey's private label surpassed 3% of grocery and other merchandise share at quarter's end.

“Casey’s grew diluted earnings per share in the third quarter despite a challenging, COVID-19 impacted environment,” said Darren Rebelez, President and CEO. “The Company advanced several initiatives in our grocery and other merchandise category that contributed to positive inside sales volume in the quarter and investment in our fuel capabilities yielded favorable results. We continue to effectively manage discretionary operating expenses while investing in our team members' and guests' safety. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we are committed to executing our long-term strategic plan.”

Net income, diluted EPS, and Adjusted EBITDA (reconciled later in the document) in the third quarter were greater than prior year due to higher fuel margin and decreased interest expense, partially offset by lower inside gross profit and higher operating expenses. The Company operated 36 more stores than the prior year period.

Same-store gallons sold were adversely impacted by lower guest traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company’s overall fuel gross profit was 37% higher than the previous third quarter, driven in part by Casey's centralized fuel team and its ability to navigate the complex environment within the fuel marketplace. The Company sold $6.9 million in renewable fuel credits in the third quarter, an increase of $5.2 million from the prior year.

Inside same-store sales were driven by strong performance in alcohol, packaged beverages, and whole pizza pies, offset by weakened demand in the bakery and dispensed beverage categories. Inside margin was adversely impacted by mix shift, both within and across categories. In addition, the Company discounted select merchandise in conjunction with a major store reset that took place throughout the chain in the third quarter. The reset expanded selling space throughout the store to drive key categories, optimized category flow and adjacencies, and enabled the rapid expansion of our private brand program.

Operating expenses for the third quarter were up primarily due to operating 36 more stores than this time last year, as well as incurring $11 million in COVID-19 related expenses, $10 million in incremental incentive compensation due to strong financial performance of the Company, $3 million in labor costs associated with the major store reset noted above, offset by a reduction in credit card fees and a 5% reduction in same-store labor hours, after adjusting for the store reset and COVID-19 related pay.

In connection with the previously disclosed pending Buchanan Energy acquisition, Casey's and Buchanan Energy received a Request for Additional Information from the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"). Casey's is cooperating with the FTC and does not expect its review to have a material impact on the acquisition. The Company also expects to complete the construction of approximately 40 new stores this fiscal year.

Liquidity
At January 31, the Company had approximately $865 million in available liquidity, consisting of approximately $390 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand and $475 million in undrawn borrowing capacity on existing lines of credit. During the quarter, the Company amended its existing Credit Agreement to include a term loan of up to $300 million. The term loan along with existing cash and lines of credit, will be used to fund the pending Buchanan Energy acquisition.

Share Repurchase
The Company has $300 million remaining under its existing share repurchase program which expires in April 2022. There were no repurchases made against that authorization in the third quarter.

Dividend
At its March meeting, the Board of Directors voted to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share. The dividend is payable May 17, 2021 to shareholders of record on May 3, 2021.

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 nine months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020:

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 Other Merchandise and Prepared Food and Fountain

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 the pending Buchanan Energy acquisition, 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, and the potential effect of COVID-19. There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the timing and integration of the pending Buchanan Energy acquisition, executing our strategic plan, the impact and duration of COVID-19 and related governmental actions, 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 March 9, 2021. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet at 7:30 a.m. CST. 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210308005928/en/

Investor Relations Contact:
Brian Johnson (515) 965-6587

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

Source: Casey’s General Stores

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