Casey's General Stores earnings up 42% in first quarter

Casey's General Stores Inc. reported sharply higher earnings in its first fiscal quarter ended July 31 on the strength of higher in-store sales.

The Ankeny-based convenience store chain reported basic earnings per share of $1.04 compared to 73 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Basic earnings per share were up 28.4 percent after adjusting the prior year's results for fees associated with the hostile takeover attempt by Alimentation Couche-Tard.

CEO Robert Myers said features of the chain's new store design are proving to be very popular with our customers and are driving inside sales. Inside sales rose 16 percent from the first quarter of 2011.

Same-store gasoline sales were down 2.7 percent on a volume basis. While not achieving its goal to increase gallons sold by 1 percent, the stores exceeded their goal of achieving an average profit margin of 13.5 cents per gallon. The average margin was 17.2 cents per gallon for the quarter.

Grocery and merchandise sales rose by 6.2 percent, exceeding Casy's annual goal of increasing same-store sales 5.8 percent. Prepared food and fountain drink sales rose 15.3 percent with an average profit margin of 61.2 percent, exceeding the company's goal to boost same-store sales 7.7 percent.