PriceSmart Posts Lower Q2 Profit

(RTTNews) - PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT) reported net income for the second quarter of $24.8 million or $0.82 per share, compared to $28.3 million or $0.93 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues for the second quarter rose to $750.3 million from $674.4 million in the prior year quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.98 per share on revenue of $741.43 million for the second quarter.

Net warehouse club sales for the quarter increased 11.4% to $732.1 million from $657.2 million ia year earlier.

Jose Luis Laparte, PriceSmart's President and Chief Executive Officer said, "While many of our markets performed well in the quarter, the reduction in net income can be attributed to Colombia where various factors, most notably the devaluation of the Colombian peso, led to a year on year reduction of net income and negatively impacted the consolidated results of the Company by approximately $0.16 per share. The rest of the Company performed well in the quarter with growth in sales and membership income, and higher operating profit; contributing additional net income of approximately $0.05 per share to the consolidated results compared to the second quarter of last year."