Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) has reported 10.63 percent rise in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $123.58 million, or $0.94 a share in the quarter, compared with $111.71 million, or $0.82 a share for the same period last year.

Revenue during the quarter grew 16.39 percent to $1,916.54 million from $1,646.61 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 35 basis points over the previous year period to 33.72 percent. Total expenses were 89.85 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 89.48 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 37 basis points in operating margin to 10.15 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $194.62 million, compared with $173.29 million in the previous year period.

Greg Sandfort, chief executive officer, stated, "While it was obviously a challenging retail environment, our Tractor Supply team managed the business well and drove strong comparable store sales and earnings per share growth. Throughout the quarter, the team worked hard to take advantage of weather trends, localize assortments, manage inventory and shorten the supply chain."
 

For financial year 2017, Tractor Supply Company forecasts revenue to be in the range of $7,220 million to $7,290 million. The company projects net income to be in the range of $445 million to $457 million. The company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $3.44 to $3.52.

The company has spent $369.26 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $235.91 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $225.66 million on net basis during the year, down 4.35 percent or $10.26 million from year ago.

The company has spent $279.67 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $180.59 million in the last year period.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $53.92 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 15.51 percent or $9.90 million from $63.81 million on Dec. 26, 2015.
 

Working capital declines
Tractor Supply Company has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $740.62 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, down 9.03 percent or $73.53 million from $814.15 million on Dec. 26, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.95 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 2.21 on Dec. 26, 2015.

Days inventory outstanding was almost stable at 53 days for the quarter, when compared with the last year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 20 days for the quarter from 18 for the same period last year.