Casey’s General Stores Inc. saw same-store gross profits increase 16.7% in the quarter that ended July 31 when compared to the same period a year ago, the convenience store and fuel company announced.

The publicly-traded company, whose headquarters is in Ankeny, reported inside same-store gross profits of $463.5 million compared to $397.2 million during the same period in 2020.
Inside same-store sales were driven by strong performance in packaged beverages, grocery items such as salty snacks and meat snacks, as well as a resurgence in pizza slices, driven in part by improved guest traffic, the company reported in its new release. The pandemic slowed customer traffic inside stores through much of 2020 and into 2021.

Overall, Casey’s reported total revenue of $3.1 billion in the first quarter, up from first-quarter revenue of $2.1 billion in 2020. Operating expenses increased to $478.9 million in the quarter that ended July 31. A year ago, operating expenses totaled $386 million.

The 24% increase in operating expenses was attributed to restoring store operating hours to pre-COVID levels and operating 166 more stores than the company did a year ago. In addition, credit card fees increased 39.3% in the quarter compared to a year ago mostly due to higher fuel prices. Also, Casey’s had one-time transaction and integration costs tied to its acquisitions of Circle K and Buchanan Energy.

Casey’s Board of Directors this month voted to pay a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share, an increase of 1 cent. The dividend is payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record on Nov. 1.
To read the news release on Casey’s first-quarter and annual earnings, click here.