The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience stores reports continued recovery from the pandemic slowdown despite some continuing challenges.
Company president, Darren Rebelez gave an update today on second-quarter results during a conference call with investors.
“Diluted earnings per share were two dollars and 59 cents per share. And while down from the prior year — were still impressive in the wake of the extremely challenging retail environment we are still facing. Total gross profit dollars of 718 million dollars was an all-time high for the second quarter,” Rebelez says.
Rebelez says they were still able to keep moving in a positive direction during the quarter. “We experienced increased guest counts and positive same-store fuel volumes. We maintained or grew our margins inside our stores while dealing with a myriad of product or inflationary challenges,” he says.
Rebelez supply chain issues were one of the biggest challenges. “While our self-distribution model help mitigate some supply chain challenges, we most acutely felt product availability challenges in the prepared food category,” according to Rebelez. “At various times during the quarter — and sometimes for nearly the entire quarter — we were out of key items such as donuts, fountain beverage cups, and chicken.”
Rebelez says increases were offset by higher operating expenses, higher wage rates, and credit card fees, along with the addition of 161 additional stores. He says the company implemented selective price increases to offset inflationary pressures throughout the business.