Investing.com -- Shares in Pep Boys-Manny Moe & Jack (NYSE:PBY) fell more than 2% in after-hours trading, after the Philadelphia-based full-service and tire automotive chain posted disappointing quarterly earnings on Monday afternoon.
For the 13-week period that ended on January 31, company sales increased by $6.7 million or 1.3% to $502.4 million on a year-over-year basis. Pep Boys' revenues for the quarter were boosted by a 3.2% increase in its comparable service center division.
The company, however, posted a net loss of $26.7 million for the quarter, which led to a net loss of $27.3 million for fiscal year 2014. By comparison, Pep Boys recorded earnings of $6.9 million the previous fiscal year.
“The fourth quarter was a time of transition for the Company, We continued to increase our sales in the growing service segment. ” interim CEO John Sweetwood said in a statement. "Our investments in the high-growth areas of our business – commercial, tires, fleet and digital – increased revenue, but temporarily depressed margins. To date in the first quarter, we have generated higher sales and experienced recovering margins.”
Despite the increase in sales, company earnings were tamped down by a $23.9 million goodwill impairment charge in the fourth quarter of last year. While Pep Boys did not disclose the factors that spawned the negative earnings, goodwill impairment in general has received a great deal of scrutiny from regulators over the past dozen years. A rash of accounting scandals in 2002 triggered stricter regulations that required corporations to report goodwill assets at realistic levels.
Sweetwood is confident the company will report stronger earnings in the first quarter.
“With only three weeks to go in the first quarter of 2015, we are seeing a turn around in the business. At this point comparable store sales are up with double-digit growth in commercial, fleet and digital," Sweetwood added.
Shares in Pep Boys dropped 0.20 or 2.08% in after-hours trading to 9.40.
In 1921, Pep Boys was founded by a group of four friends who pooled together $800 to open a single auto parts store.