CarMax Sales Up 38%
Circuit City Stores, Inc. today reported third quarter sales for the company, including record sales for the CarMax Group .
Total sales for the CarMax Group rose 38 percent for the quarter ended November 30, 2001, to $774.8 million from $561.7 million in the same period last year. Comparable store dollar sales rose 38 percent, and comparable store unit sales rose 31 percent. Comparable store used-vehicle dollar sales rose 36 percent, and comparable store used-vehicle unit sales rose 29 percent. Comparable store new-vehicle dollar sales rose 51 percent, and comparable store new-vehicle unit sales rose 46 percent.
``The strong sales growth we experienced in September in both used and new vehicles accelerated vigorously in October. Our unique CarMax consumer offer allowed us to take full advantage of the increased customer traffic that resulted from zero percent financing incentives offered by new-car manufacturers,'' said W. Austin Ligon, president of CarMax. ``Our entire used-car business benefited from the additional customer traffic, as did the majority of our new-car brands. In November, we continued to see used-vehicle sales growth consistent with the October trend, while the new-car sales growth rate slowed somewhat. New-vehicle sales during the quarter also were helped by our entering the quarter with higher levels of new-car inventory than in past years to assure the continued availability of the more popular new-car models as they become scarce during the model-year changeover.
``Our comparable store unit sales performance and the resulting operating expense leverage, especially from comparable store used-vehicle unit sales, has caused us to raise our third-quarter earnings expectation to approximately 17 cents per CarMax Group share, up more than 140 percent from 7 cents per share in last year's third quarter,'' said Ligon. On October 18, 2001, CarMax had raised its third quarter earnings expectation to a range of 14 cents to 15 cents per CarMax Group share and approximately 5 cents per Circuit City Group share. The Circuit City Group holds a retained interest in the CarMax Group. CarMax now expects that earnings attributed to the Circuit City Group stock will be approximately 6 cents per Circuit City Group share, compared with 2 cents per Circuit City Group share in the same period last year.
Vehicle Mix
The percent of vehicle sales represented by each category for the third quarter and the nine months is as follows:
Three Months Nine Months
Ended November 30 Ended November 30
2001 2000 2001 2000
Vehicle Dollars:
Used Vehicles 80% 81% 81% 80%
New Vehicles 20% 19% 19% 20%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
Vehicle Units:
Used Vehicles 86% 87% 86% 86%
New Vehicles 14% 13% 14% 14%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
Comparable Store Sales Growth
FY01 FY02
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FY01 1Q 2Q 3Q
Vehicle Dollars:
Used Vehicles 13% 18% 15% 28% 19% 28% 30% 36%
New Vehicles 24% 17% (4)% 4% 9% 23% 14% 51%
Total 14% 18% 11% 23% 17% 27% 27% 38%
Vehicle Units:
Used Vehicles 8% 13% 11% 19% 13% 20% 22% 29%
New Vehicles 23% 16% (3)% 3% 9% 19% 12% 46%
Total 10% 13% 9% 17% 12% 20% 21% 31%
Average Retails
FY01
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FY01
Used Vehicles $14,200 $14,400 $14,400 $14,700 $14,400
New Vehicles $22,500 $22,400 $22,700 $23,100 $22,600
Blended Average $15,300 $15,500 $15,400 $15,700 $15,500
FY02
1Q 2Q 3Q
Used Vehicles $15,100 $15,300 $15,100
New Vehicles $23,200 $22,800 $23,500
Blended Average $16,200 $16,300 $16,300
CarMax also reported that it now expects to open one standard-sized used-car superstore and one satellite used-car superstore late in February, which is at the end of this fiscal year. The standard superstore will be in Greensboro, N.C., and the satellite in Merrillville, Ind., in the greater Chicago market. The standard superstore previously planned for opening at the end of this fiscal year in Sacramento, Calif., now is planned to open in the first quarter next fiscal year.
The CarMax Group expects to release third quarter earnings on December 18, 2001.
