BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Buy-here, pay-here dealership chain America’s Car-Mart late last week announced its operating results for its third fiscal quarter, showing double-digit growth revenue.

For the quarter ending Jan. 31, the group saw a revenue increase of 13.8 percent, coming in at $105.4 million, up from the $92.6 million for the same period last year. Same store revenue growth also climbed by 7.9 percent.

The company also noted that strong cash flows supporting the significant increase in revenues and the $12.9 million increase in finance receivables, $1.2 million in net capital expenditures and $3.5 million in common stock re-purchases, with only a $7.4 million increase in total debt

And moving along in the results, net income came in at $7.3 million ($.73 per diluted share) versus $5.7 million ($.52 per diluted share) for prior year quarter, showing a  40.4-percent increase in fully diluted earnings per share.

Commenting on the news, William “Hank” Henderson, president and chief executive officer of America’s Car-Mart, has this to say, "We saw the continuation of our strong operating results in the third quarter. By staying focused on customer success we have been able to consistently produce outstanding returns. Our strong performance is the direct result of taking great care of our customers, one at a time. We operate in a difficult business and the dedication and compassion demonstrated every day by all of our associates truly makes us stand out as the industry leader.

"As we look forward, we are very excited to have the opportunity to not only grow our customer base in existing locations but to continue to add great new locations in the future. Our new store openings continue to go very well and these stores are really important in achieving our long-term goals. All of our efforts are directed to helping our customers succeed by working with them when they experience financial difficulties. This is what we do and we have done it very well for over 30 years," he continued.

Moving along, the company highlighted a number of results from the quarter that showed growth.

As for sales, retail unit sales saw an increase of 8.5 percent to 8,956 from 8,266 for the same period of 2010.

These results may stem in part from the fact that the dealership group’s active customer base is growing, as well, now coming in at more than 53,000.

The company also took part in a stock buy-back this past quarter.

"The company repurchased 98,201 shares of its common stock during the third quarter. Since Feb. 1, 2010 we have repurchased 2,283,109 shares, or 19.4 percent of our company. The company has 908,695 shares available under its existing repurchase plan and intends to repurchase shares in the future when conditions are favorable, subject to restrictions under its senior credit facility," said Jeff Williams, chief financial officer of America's Car-Mart.

"We have opened six new dealerships so far this fiscal year, and we plan to open three more between now and the end of the fiscal year, April 30, 2012. Our plans continue to be to open new dealerships at an approximate 10 percent annual rate into the future,” he continued, commenting on the company’s plans for the rest of 2012.

Williams also showed enthusiasm for the results as a whole.

"We are very pleased with our financial performance for the quarter. From an average store base of 111 we saw an 8.5 percent increase in unit sales and a 7.9 percent increase in same-store revenues. Once again, based on our strong top line growth, we had impressive leveraging at the selling, general and administrative line. Our existing store base will continue to support significant growth into the future, and with the addition of new dealerships, we are committed to serving a growing customer base looking for good, basic, affordable transportation. Our focus on customer success continues to show up in our results,” said Williams.

"Our credit results have been strong and have been very consistent over the past several years. Should our collection results for the fourth quarter come in within a range of where currently anticipated, we could be in the position of needing to reduce our allowance for credit losses based on our anticipated future losses within the portfolio in light of our consistent credit performance over an extended period of time,” he continued.

Nine-Month Operating Results Show Growth

And in revealing nine-month operating results, the company showed growth during this period, as well.

The company enjoyed a revenue increase of 14.8 percent to $317 million from $276 million for the prior year period with same store revenue growth of 8.3 percent.

“Strong cash flows supporting the significant increase in revenues and the $39.9 million increase in finance receivables, $3.2 million in net capital expenditures and $29.9 million in common,” officials explained.

Net income came in at $23.3 million ($2.28 per diluted share) versus $19.8 million ($1.77 per diluted share) for the prior year period. This represents a 28.8 percent year-over-year increase in fully diluted earnings per share.

And lastly, retail unit sales saw an increase of 10.9 percent to sit at 27,933 from 25,178 for the prior year period. Average retail units sold per store per month increased to 28.5 from 28.0, as well.