Less Water in the Pool: Fool by Numbers

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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*
Gross Margin	27.7%	28.1%	(0.4)
Operating Margin	2.3%	4.3%	(2.0)
Net Margin	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:

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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.