Acquisition of competitor helps boost Advance Auto Part’s earnings

The acquisition of a competitor helped boost Advance Auto Part’s second quarter sales to $2.3 billion, a bump of 51.5 percent, compared to total sales of $1.5 billion for the same time last year.

In addition to the purchase of General Parts International Inc. in January, the Roanoke-based company said comparable store sales increases of 2.6 percent (at retail stores open at least a year) and the addition of new stores were other factors in its strong earnings report.

Advance Auto Parts, which describes itself as the largest automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, said profit increased to $139.4 million, or $1.89 a share, compared to $116.8 million, or $1.59 a share, for the second quarter of 2013.

The second-quarter earnings excluded the integration costs associated with the acquisition of General Parts.

“We are pleased with our second-quarter performance led by strong execution from our team members delivering comparable cash EPS growth of 30% and an increase in comparable store sales of 2.6% in the quarter,” Darren R. Jackson, the company’s CEO said in a statement. “We remain on pace against our base business expectations, integration milestones and with our financial performance.”

Advance Auto released a reorganization plan in June that gives the company a corporate presence in Raleigh, where General Parts had its headquarters. While most of Advance’s executives will work out of Raleigh, the company said that the headquarters will remain in Roanoke and it will remain home for a number of senior leaders.