O'Reilly Auto profits rise 15% in 2012

O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) posted 2012 earnings of $585.7 million, a 15.4 percent increase compared to $507.7 million in the year prior.

"Our continued focus on managing our working capital, coupled with our focus on profitable growth, resulted in $951 million of free cash flow for the year, representing a 20 percent increase, on top of very strong 2011 free cash flow of $791 million," O'Reilly President and CEO Greg Henslee said in a news release. "As a result of our strong free cash flow and prudent leverage growth, we were able to return $1.4 billion to our shareholders during 2012 by repurchasing more than 16 million shares.

"These repurchased shares, along with our very profitable growth, resulted in a 25 percent increase in adjusted earnings per share to $4.75, representing four consecutive years of 20 percent or greater earnings per share growth.”

O'Reilly's fourth-quarter profits rose 8 percent to $132.8 million from $123 million for the three months ending Dec. 31, 2011. The company reported earnings per diluted share of $1.14, up from 94 cents in the same quarter of 2011, the release said.

Fourth-quarter financial notes:

• O'Reilly repurchased 3.6 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $87.71 per share, representing an investment of $312 million.
• Sales totaled $1.5 billion, up 7 percent from $1.4 billion.
• Comparable store sales increased 4.2 percent, compared to 3.3 percent in fourth-quarter 2011.

As of Dec. 31, O'Reilly held assets of $5.7 billion, and the company operated roughly 4,000 stores in 42 states. During the fourth quarter, the company opened 24 new stores and acquired 56, the release said.  

ORLY shares were trading at $101.47 as of 9:07 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $75.16 to $107.13.