MarineMax same-store sales decline 45 percent

CLEARWATER, Fla. – MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE: HZO), the nation’s largest recreational boat retailer, announced today in its fiscal 2008 financial results that the company lost $134.3 million on year-over-year revenues that fell by nearly 30 percent.

Revenue for the company’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008, dropped 29.7 percent from $1.26 billion at year-end 2007 to $885.4 million at year-end 2008, and same-store sales during the period dropped about 28 percent, the company reported. Last year, the company reported a year-end net income of $20.1 million.

“The already difficult economic environment grew increasingly challenging as the September quarter progressed,” said William H. McGill, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, “resulting from the growing turmoil in the financial markets, which impacted our results as well as those of most other retailers.

“We are accelerating our actions to adjust our cost structure to be in better alignment with current market trends. This includes reducing our costs through achieving more appropriate levels of personnel expenses, rationalizing our store base in a manner that we believe will not result in market share losses, and evaluating all expenditures.”

MarineMax operates more than 75 retail locations, down from nearly 90 a year ago, and the company reported that it closed seven stores in the fourth quarter of 2008.

As McGill noted, the economic downturn appears to be accelerating, as MarineMax reported a 47.9-percent decline in total revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Last year, the company reported sales of $318.2 million in the fourth quarter, and this year, it plummeted to $165.6 million in the same quarter. Same-store sales dropped 45 percent from the same quarter last year.

The net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $11.1 million, compared to earnings of $6.6 million for the comparable quarter last year.

For the three months and fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008, the company reported that its same-store sales were adversely affected by continued weak economic conditions, in addition to being further pressured by the unprecedented volatility in the financial markets as well as multiple hurricanes in August and September.

“We also continue to focus on strengthening our balance sheet, which has no long-term debt, and protecting our tangible net worth of almost $250 million,” McGill said. “Despite the substantial decline in sales we experienced during the September quarter, our efforts to manage our inventories resulted in a slight decline in our year-end inventory levels compared with those at the end of the prior year. We have also further reduced our expected purchases from manufacturers for the 2009 model year.

“We will continue to manage those areas of our business that we can impact, and we are confident that these actions, combined with our unique customer-centric business model, will allow us to become a leaner, more effective company and strengthen our position as the nation’s largest boating retailer.”

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