Aaron's profits grow 16.9% in third quarter
Rent-to-own giant's revenue climbs 7%
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, October 22, 2009
ATLANTA — Rent-to-own giant Aaron's reported a 16.9% increase in third quarter net earnings and a 7% gain in revenues as the company continued to grow its customer base and business in a weak economy.
Net income rose to $24.6 million from $21.1 million, while revenue grew to $415.3 million from $388 million for the same period last year.
Net earnings from continuing operations increased 24% to $24.7 million, and same-store-revenues at company-owned stores increased 6.3%. Aaron's sold its Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division in late 2008 and is accounting for it as a discontinued operation.
"We continue to have strong revenue and customer growth in a time when other retailers are struggling," said Aaron's President and CEO Robert Loudermilk. "We believe this is due to Aaron's superior business model and execution in serving our large customer base."
He added that the results were "excellent compared to the third quarter of last year, when many customers benefited from government stimulus checks."
Revenues for the Atlanta-based company's main Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership division grew 7% to $414.4 million in the quarter and 10% to $1.3 billion for the first nine months.
That includes results from Aaron's Office Furniture stores, which saw revenue decline 34% to $3.5 million in the quarter and dip 25% to $12.3 million for the first nine months compared with a year ago. Loudermilk said Aaron's Office Furniture stores haven't been profitable "for many quarters," and that the company wrote down a portion of the stores' assets in the third quarter.
"We will continue to evaluate the office furniture store and are working on plans to improve their future financial performance," he added.
During the quarter, Aaron's opened 20 company-owned and 12 franchised Sales & Lease Ownership stores. It also added 10 franchised stores through conversion of an independent operator to Aaron's. It closed four company-owned and three franchise locations.
Aaron's ended the quarter with 1,655 stores - 1,059 company-owned and 562 franchised Sales & Lease Ownership stores; 13 company-owned and seven franchised RIMCO stores; and 14 company-owned Office Furniture stores.
-
Aaron's earnings jump 19% in fourth quarter
Feb 17, 2010 -
Aaron's posts 23% increase in 4Q net earnings
Feb 24, 2011 -
Aaron's net earnings rise 19.2% in second quarter
Jul 22, 2009
Featured Company
-
FurnitureCore.com
FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
