MarineMax reports fourth quarter, fiscal year results

MarineMax, Inc. has announced its fourth quarter and fiscal year ending results. For the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2017, revenue grew more than 10 percent to $250.6 million from $227.4 million for the comparable quarter last year. Same-store sales for the quarter increased 5 percent on top of 12 percent growth for the same period last year.

Net income for the quarter was $3.9 million. Included in the quarter is $2.9 million of unusual expenses associated with Hurricane Irma. Excluding the Irma related expenses, pretax earnings rose 38 percent to $8.6 million for the fourth quarter, from $6.3 million in the comparable period last year. 

Irma shut down MarineMax’s largest market for two to four weeks in September, said William H. McGill, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call Tuesday morning. 

“We had damage at just about every facility in the state, and within 24 hours almost every store in clean-up mode,” he said.

However, shortly after Irma passed, the phones began ringing with customers asking about the status of their boats, McGill said.

For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017, the company produced revenue growth of 12 percent to approximately $1.1 billion compared to $942.1 million in fiscal 2016.

Same-store sales for the year increased over 5 percent on top of 22 percent growth for the prior two consecutive fiscal years. Net income for the fiscal year was $23.5 million,  compared to $22.6 million in 2016.

Included in fiscal 2017 are the $2.9 million of unusual expenses associated with Hurricane Irma. Excluding the Irma related expenses, pretax earnings rose 17 percent to $40.7 million for the year, from $34.8 million in the prior year. Also included in fiscal 2017 are unusual tax-related items that reduced the company’s tax provision by $522,000 net. Included in fiscal 2016 is a deferred tax asset valuation allowance reversal of $1.1 million net.

While current trends in the industry remain positive, choppiness has continued in the 40-foot and larger boat segment, McGill said. MarineMax is working closely with its manufacturing partners to ensure inventory is aligned with retail trends.

“Fortunately, each of our manufacturers has done a good job launching new models in the last few years, leaving our inventory about as fresh as it has ever been,” McGill said. “We have also added initiatives to better align expenses with the current environment. We remain enthusiastic about the long-term strength of the industry and the business given the ongoing activity with our customers. As we look ahead, we remain committed to improving our earnings as the MarineMax team continues to execute on our customer centric approach in order to build upon our industry leading market share gains and efforts to build additional shareholder value.”

During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 2.4 million shares of its common stock. As of Sept. 30, 2017, the company had approximately 387,000 shares remaining under its Aug. 2, 2017, repurchase plan.

“The MarineMax Team delivered a strong close to the fiscal year as we did our best to overcome the challenges brought on by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey,” McGill said. “Our results in the fourth quarter, considering the impact to the state of Florida, our largest market, is a testament to our customers’ desire for the boating lifestyle, our team’s passion for MarineMax and the strategies that have led to our industry leading results. In the fourth quarter and fiscal year, we were able to grow sales and expand gross margins, driven by improving product margins and meaningful contributions from our higher margin businesses.”