True Value reports revenue decline

True Value has reported first-quarter revenue of $428.6 million, down 3.2% from $442.9 million for the same period a year ago. Net margin for the quarter ending April 3 totaled $8.1 million, down 27.6% from $11.2 million in the year-ago period.

"The sales trend has been moving in the right direction since early March," said president and CEO Lyle Heidemann. "Both retail and wholesale revenue have seen consistent increases.

"We remain on plan with retailer adoption of our Destination True Value format with 26 additional stores implementing the recommended retail layout so far this year. Moreover, we continue to see an average 12% revenue improvement for stores remodeled to this format compared with non-DTV remodeled stores," he added.

Revenue in January and February was especially soft in the Northeast and Upper Midwest where weather was milder than last year, according to the company, which cited lower volume and lower product margin rates as reasons for the decline. However, revenue improved in March and April.

Debt decreased 17.6% to $165.7 million compared with a year ago.