Less Water in the Pool: Fool by Numbers (POOL)

Less Water in the Pool: Fool by Numbers

On April 19, pool-supply distributor Pool Corporation (Nasdaq: POOL ) released its first-quarter earnings for the period ended March 31.

Same-store sales grew 4% for the quarter, and sales from a recent acquisition added the remaining growth. I'll throw the company a life preserver here, since winter's not the most brisk season for pool supplies.
Increased costs from opening new sales centers -- while expanding and relocating others -- put a 200-basis-point dent in operating margins. Hopefully, those investments will pay off down the road.
I couldn't find any direct, publicly traded competitors for the three-star-rated company in CAPS. That may be a good thing, considering the company's highly fragmented market.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Sales	$373.7	$348.6	7.2%
Net Profit	$1.4	$6.4	(78.1%)
EPS	$0.03	$0.12	(75%)
Diluted Shares	52.5	55.4	(5.2%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change*
27.7%	28.1%	(0.4)
2.3%	4.3%	(2.0)
0.4%	1.8%	(1.5)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$30.6	$6.0	413.4%
Accounts Rec.	$231.0	$211.6	9.2%
Inventory	$413.2	$406.3	1.7%

Liabilities	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$325.4	$267.3	21.7%
Long-Term Debt	$253.2	$155.2	63.2%

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

	YTD 2007	YTD 2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	($13.3)	($60.7)	N/A
Capital Expenditures	($3.3)	($3.4)	N/A
Free Cash Flow	($16.6)	($64.1)	N/A

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

We haven't written much on the company, but it sure seems impressive:

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, retail editor David Meier did not own stock in any of the companies mentioned. Fool rules are here.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.