O’Reilly posts record revenue again

O’Reilly announced its 13th consecutive year of record annual revenues, as annual income, before the cumulative effect of accounting change, totaled $164.3 million, up 39.6 percent from $117.7 million in 2004.

Diluted earnings per common share for the year, also before accounting changes, increased 38.1 percent to $1.45 on 113.4 million shares.

Product sales for 2005 totaled $2.05 billion, up 18.8 percent from the $1.72 billion total of the previous year, and 2005 gross profit increased 20.1 percent to $892.5 million. Comparable store sales, for stores open at least one year, increased 7.5 percent for the year.

For the fourth quarter of 2005, net income totaled $39.5 million, up 79.5 percent from the $22 million posted in the fourth quarter of 2004. Diluted earnings per common share totaled 35 cents in the quarter, up 75 percent from the same period in 2004.

Fourth-quarter product sales totaled $515 million, up 20.4 percent from the same period in 2004, while comparable store sales increased 7.4 percent.

Chief Operating Officer and Co-President Ted Wise said the growth will continue in 2006.

“In the fourth quarter of 2005, we opened 38 new stores and continued our successful integration of Midwest Auto Parts,” Wise said in a news release. “We expect to add 170 to 175 new stores in 2006 as well as a new distribution center in Indianapolis, Indiana, that will support our expansion in this region.”

Shares of O’Reilly Automotive stock (Nasdaq: ORLY) closed Feb. 28 at $32.72, compared to a 52-week range of $23.21 to $34.61. As of 11 a.m. today, the stock price had increased nearly 12 percent to $36.59 – a new 52-week high – after climbing to $38.30 earlier this morning.