6 days ago
Pool Corp beats profit estimate on maintenance products demand, shares jump
(Reuters) -Pool Corp beat analysts' estimate for second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by steady demand for swimming pool maintenance products, sending its shares up more than 8% in premarket trading.
The company posted an adjusted profit of $5.17 per share during the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $5.08 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
"Our second-quarter sales benefited from continued strength in maintenance products, including sales of our private-label chemical products, and year-over-year improvement in sales of discretionary products, such as building materials," it said in a statement.
The Covington, Louisiana-based company, a wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies and equipment, had been seeing soft demand for discretionary products such as new pool construction and remodeling as customers cut back non-essential spending amid looming macroeconomic uncertainties.
Pool Corp trimmed its annual profit forecast to between $10.80 and $11.30 per share, compared with its earlier range of $11.10 to $11.60 per share.
Its operating expenses increased 1% during the second quarter.
"While inflationary pressures on wages and ongoing investments in our sales center network contributed to the increase (in operating expenses), they were largely offset by our proactive control of variable expenses," CEO Peter Arvan said.
Revenue for the quarter rose 0.8% to $1.78 billion, in line with analysts' estimate.
Pool Corp, which also sells irrigation and landscape products, operated 451 sales centers in North America, Europe and Australia, through which it distributed more than 200,000 products to roughly 125,000 wholesale customers, as of June 30.
