Ace gains on income with minimal movement on revenue

Ace Hardware reported a slight increase in revenue during the first quarter, as well as more substantial progress in net income.

Revenue came in at $1.2 billion, up 0.1% from the first quarter of 2016. Net income of $28.3 million was up 8.4% over the year.

Same-store sales were down 0.2% due to decreased customer traffic, reported by the approximately 3,000 Ace retailers who share daily retail sales data.

John Venhuizen, president and CEO of Ace, acknowledged the somewhat lackluster sales performance.

“I’m delighted to report an 8.4% increase in net income, a double digit jump in accrued patronage dividends for our owners and surpassing a global store count of 5,000 stores in the quarter," said Venhuizen. “While revenue improved, our increase fell short of our expectations. And despite the obvious temptation, I’ll resist pinning the blame on the less than favorable weather.”

Retail revenues from Ace Retail Holdings were $52.0 million in the first quarter of 2017, however, up 2.8% from the first quarter of 2016 thanks to the addition of new retail stores. However, same-store-sales decreased 3.0%.

The co-op also added 16 new domestic stores and cancelled 21 for a net decrease of 5 stores during the quarter -- a total domestic store count of 4,358. This was still up 56 stores from the first quarter of 2016.