Private Label Continues to Drive Sales at Casey's
Iowa-based convenience chain Casey’s General Stores is continuing to see its private label penetration increase, reaching over 9% year-over-year in fiscal 2023.
The retailer’s Q4 and full-year were released on June 6, showing continued success for the chain. For the three-month period ending April 30, 2023. Inside same-store sales up 6.5% with an inside margin of 39.6%. Total inside gross profit increased 8.9% to $445.5 million compared to the prior year, led in part by the growth of private label snacks and beverages.
Same-store gallons sold were flat in the latest quarter. Fuel gross profit was down 2.2%.
For the full fiscal year, net income increased 31.5% to $446.7 million, and EBITDA increased 18.9% to $952.5 million. Total inside sales for the full year were $4.76 billion, an increase from $4.34 billion in fiscal 2022.
“Casey's closed out its three-year strategic plan with another record fiscal year for its shareholders, highlighted by 19% EBITDA growth and 31% diluted EPS growth," said Darren Rebelez, President and CEO of Casey’s. “Inside same-store sales performed well, up 6.5%, or 13.6% on a two-year stack basis, led by alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as strong performance in pizza and bakery. We continued to strike the right balance between fuel gallon volume and gross profit margin throughout the year to drive fuel gross profit up 15.7% from the prior year. The team did a tremendous job managing cost as same-store operating expense excluding credit-card fees were only up 2.8% versus the prior year. Finally, we are busy operating 81 new stores, finishing the year with 2,521 stores.”
For fiscal 2024, Casey’s said it expects inside same-store sales to increase 3% to 5% and to improve inside margin to approximately 40% to 41%. The company expects same-store fuel gallons sold to be between negative 1% to positive 1%, with total operating expenses expected to increase approximately 5% to 7%.
“As we look to discuss our next strategic plan on June 27th, I am proud of the hard work and dedication of the Casey's team, and we are well positioned to continue delivering long-term shareholder value,” added Rebelez.