Aaron Rents, Inc. Sees Strong Fourth Quarter; Raises 2009 Earnings Guidance
22 Diciembre 2008 - 7:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
ATLANTA, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aaron Rents, Inc.
(NYSE:RNT), the nation's leader in the sales and lease ownership,
specialty retailing and rental of residential and office furniture,
consumer electronics and home appliances and accessories, today
announced that business trends continue to be quite positive and
that it was raising its 2009 earnings guidance. "Aaron's Sales
& Lease Ownership results continue to be strong with growing
same store revenues and customer counts," said Robert C.
Loudermilk, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron
Rents. "Unlike many other specialty retailers, our business has
been thriving in this economic environment. We give customers the
ability to obtain necessary home furnishings through non-credit
based lease plans not available to them at traditional retail
outlets." As previously announced, during the fourth quarter the
Company acquired substantially all of the assets of Rosey Rentals,
L.P., its second largest franchisee with 35 stores in six states.
In addition, during the quarter the Company has purchased the
accounts of 18 stores from several competitors, as well as buying
one store and selling 11 stores to other operators. The Company
also has merged 20 of its RIMCO stores into existing Aaron's Sales
& Lease Ownership stores and is re-evaluating the wheels and
rims concept. After the opening of new stores and these store
re-alignments, the Company is now expecting to have approximately
1,045 Company-operated stores and 500 franchised stores open by the
end of 2008. "We expect same store revenues for the fourth quarter
to increase 5% to 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007," Mr.
Loudermilk continued. "Our earnings guidance for the fourth quarter
and fiscal year 2008 is unchanged, with diluted earnings per share
for the year expected to be in the range of $1.60 to $1.65,
excluding gains from fourth quarter store sales and any gain or
loss on the previous announced sale of the Aaron's Corporate
Furnishings division." "We are altering our 2009 square footage
growth plans somewhat, and expect to increase overall store growth
next year approximately 5% to 9% over the store base at the end of
2008. This will be net store growth after opening a combination of
Company-operated and franchised stores, less any opportunistic
merging or disposition of stores. This rate of growth should allow
us to improve margins as well as fund our expansion without the
need to seek additional sources of capital. Due to the current
strength of our business and our outlook for next year, we are
increasing our earnings guidance for 2009 from previously expecting
to achieve diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.65 to
$1.80 to now expecting $1.70 to $1.85 per share." Aaron Rents will
announce its fourth quarter earnings on Monday, February 16, 2009
and will hold a conference call to discuss the financial results on
Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 10:30 am Eastern Time. The public is
invited to listen to the conference call by webcast accessible
through the Company's website, http://www.aaronrents.com/, in the
"Investor Relations" section. The webcast will be archived for
playback at that same site. Aaron Rents, Inc., based in Atlanta,
currently has more than 1,535 Company-operated and franchised
stores in 48 states and Canada. The Company's MacTavish Furniture
Industries division manufactured approximately $73 million at cost
of furniture and bedding at 12 facilities in five states in 2007.
The entire production of MacTavish is for shipment to Aaron Rents
stores. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this news release
regarding Aaron Rents, Inc.'s business which are not historical
facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks
and uncertainties include factors such as changes in general
economic conditions, competition, pricing, customer demand and
other issues, and the risks and uncertainties discussed under "Risk
Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2007. Statements in this release that are
"forward-looking" include without limitation Aaron Rents' projected
revenues, earnings, and store openings for future periods.
DATASOURCE: Aaron Rents, Inc. CONTACT: Gilbert L. Danielson,
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Aaron Rents,
Inc., +1-404-231-0011 Web site: http://www.aaronrents.com/
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