True Value today reported revenue of $331.5 million for the quarter ending March 29, an increase of 6.0 percent or $18.9 million over the same period a year ago. Strong sales in the farm, ranch, auto and pet, seasonal, plumbing and paint categories drove growth for the quarter, said President and Chief Executive Officer John Hartmann.
“We had a great first quarter from a sales perspective, driven by the ongoing rollout of our expanded farm, ranch, auto and pet assortments and strong demand in winter weather-related product classes that carry higher gross margin rates,” he said.
True Value also reported a quarterly net margin of $0.9 million, up 125 percent, or $0.5 million compared to $0.4 million from a year ago, primarily due to two factors: higher sales volume out of the regional distribution network and a higher average gross margin rate.
Additionally, retail comp-store sales were up 7.3 percent in the quarter with increases in each region of the country and in each of its nine product categories.
“We continue to add new stores and assist our retailers in investing in their stores by remodeling to the Destination True Value format,” Hartmann said. “We also installed new paint colorant systems in about 1,000 stores.”