/EINPresswire.com/ -- SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/07/16 -- PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) today announced its results of operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016 which ended on February 29, 2016.

For the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, net warehouse club sales increased 3.7% to $759.0 million from $732.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2015. Total revenues for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016 were $777.9 million compared to $750.3 million in the comparable period of the prior year. The Company had 38 warehouse clubs in operation as of February 2016 and 36 clubs in operation as of February 2015.

The Company recorded operating income during the quarter of $39.1 million, as compared to operating income of $41.7 million in the prior year. Net income was $25.9 million, or $0.85 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2016 as compared to $24.8 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2015.

For the first six months of fiscal year 2016, net warehouse club sales increased 5.9% to $1,449.8 million from $1,368.5 million in the first six months of fiscal year 2015. Total revenues for the first half of fiscal year 2016 increased 5.9% to $1,489.9 million from $1,406.3 million in the same period of the prior year. For the first six months of fiscal year 2016, the Company recorded operating income of $76.4 million and net income of $49.6 million, or $1.63 per diluted share. During the same six month period in fiscal year 2015, the Company recorded operating income of $78.0 million and net income of $45.5 million, or $1.50 per diluted share.

The Company also announced that for the month of March 2016, net warehouse club sales decreased to $227.8 million, from $237.7 million in March a year earlier. For the seven months ended March 31, 2016, net warehouse club sales increased 4.4% to $1,677.6 million from $1,606.2 million for the seven months ended March 31, 2015. There were 38 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of March 2016 and 36 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of March 2015.

For the four weeks ended March 27, 2016, comparable net warehouse club sales for the 36 warehouse clubs open at least 13 1/2 full months decreased 5.4%, compared to the same four-week period last year. For the thirty-week period ended March 27, 2016, comparable net warehouse club sales decreased 0.5%, compared to the comparable thirty-week period a year ago.

Comparable warehouse sales were negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Colombian peso from the year ago period. Six warehouse clubs in Colombia are in the calculation for comparable warehouse sales. Excluding those warehouse clubs, the four-week and thirty-week comparable warehouse sales for the other 30 warehouse clubs open at least 13 1/2 full months decreased 3.1% and increased 2.9%, respectively.

PriceSmart management plans to host a conference call at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time (9:00 a.m. Pacific time) on Friday, April 8, 2016, to discuss the financial results. Individuals interested in participating in the conference call may do so by dialing (877) 795-3610 for domestic callers or (719) 325-4776 for international callers, and entering participant code 1201714. A digital replay will be available through April 30, 2016, following the conclusion of the call by dialing (888) 203-1112 for domestic callers, or (719) 457-0820 for international callers, and entering relay passcode 1201714.

About PriceSmart

PriceSmart, headquartered in San Diego, owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, selling high quality merchandise at low prices to PriceSmart members. PriceSmart now operates 38 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and one U.S. territory (six each in Costa Rica and Colombia; five in Panama, four in Trinidad; three each in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Honduras; two each in El Salvador and Nicaragua; and one each in Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica and the United States Virgin Islands).

This press release may contain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's anticipated future revenues and earnings, adequacy of future cash flow, proposed warehouse club openings, the Company's performance relative to competitors, the outcome of tax proceedings and related matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words expect, believe, will, may, should, project, estimate, anticipated, scheduled, and like expressions, and the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements containing the words "expect," "believe," "will," "may," "should," "project," "estimate," "anticipated," "scheduled," and like expressions, and the negative thereof. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the following risks: our financial performance is dependent on international operations, which exposes us to various risks; any failure by us to manage our widely dispersed operations could adversely affect our business; we face significant competition; future sales growth depends, in part, on our ability to successfully open new warehouse clubs and grow sales in our existing locations; we might not identify in a timely manner or effectively respond to changes in consumer preferences for merchandise, which could adversely affect our relationship with members, demand for our products and market share; although we have begun to offer limited online shopping to our members, our sales could be adversely affected if one or more major international online retailers were to enter our markets or if other competitors were to offer a superior online experience; our profitability is vulnerable to cost increases; we face difficulties in the shipment of and inherent risks in the importation of, merchandise to our warehouse clubs; we are exposed to weather and other natural disaster risks; general economic conditions could adversely impact our business in various respects; we are subject to risks associated with possible changes in our relationships with third parties with which we do business, as well as the performance of such third parties; we rely extensively on computer systems to process transactions, summarize results and manage our business; failure to adequately maintain our systems and disruptions in our systems could harm our business and adversely affect our results of operations; we could be subject to additional tax liabilities; a few of our stockholders own approximately 27.7% of our voting stock as of February 29, 2016, which may make it difficult to complete some corporate transactions without their support and may impede a change in control; failure to attract and retain qualified employees, increases in wage and benefit costs, changes in laws and other labor issues could materially adversely affect our financial performance; we are subject to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates; we face the risk of exposure to product liability claims, a product recall and adverse publicity; any failure to maintain the security of the information relating to our company, members, employees and vendors that we hold, whether as a result of cybersecurity attacks on our information systems, failure of internal controls, employee negligence or malfeasance or otherwise, could damage our reputation with members, employees, vendors and others, could cause us to incur substantial additional costs and to become subject to litigation and could materially adversely affect our operating results; we are subject to payment related risks; changes in accounting standards and assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial condition and results of operations; we face increased public company compliance risks and compliance risks related to our international operations; if remediation costs or hazardous substance contamination levels at certain properties for which we maintain financial responsibility exceed management's current expectations, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted. The risks described above as well as the other risks detailed in the Company's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") reports, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015 filed on October 29, 2015 pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We assume no obligation and expressly disclaim any duty to update any forward- looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

                              PRICESMART, INC.
                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
          (UNAUDITED--AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)

                         Three Months Ended           Six Months Ended
                     --------------------------  --------------------------
                     February 29,  February 28,  February 29,  February 28,
                         2016          2015          2016          2015
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Revenues:
Net warehouse club
 sales               $    758,987  $    732,120  $  1,449,818  $  1,368,535
Export sales                6,549         6,229        14,781        14,660
Membership income          11,285        10,898        22,751        21,013
Other income                1,110         1,049         2,512         2,109
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Total revenues            777,931       750,296     1,489,862     1,406,317
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Operating expenses:
Cost of goods sold:
Net warehouse club        651,500       625,876     1,241,683     1,164,904
Export                      6,225         5,934        14,057        13,961
Selling, general and
 administrative:
Warehouse club
 operations                64,763        62,041       125,603       118,251
General and
 administrative            16,184        14,117        31,647        27,467
Pre-opening expenses           71           229           376         3,378
Loss/(gain) on
 disposal of assets            52           391            65           363
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Total operating
 expenses                 738,795       708,588     1,413,431     1,328,324
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Operating income           39,136        41,708        76,431        77,993
Other income
 (expense):
Interest income               280           266           458           530
Interest expense           (1,536)       (1,970)       (2,909)       (3,144)
Other income
 (expense), net              (552)       (1,659)         (796)       (4,291)
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Total other income
 (expense)                 (1,808)       (3,363)       (3,247)       (6,905)
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Income before
 provision for
 income taxes and
 income (loss) of
 unconsolidated
 affiliates                37,328        38,345        73,184        71,088
Provision for income
 taxes                    (11,815)      (13,526)      (23,945)      (25,628)
Income (loss) of
 unconsolidated
 affiliates                   429            16           375            22
                     ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Net income                 25,942  $     24,835  $     49,614        45,482
                     ============  ============  ============  ============
Net income per share
 available for
 distribution:
Basic net income per
 share               $       0.85  $       0.82  $       1.63  $       1.50
                     ============  ============  ============  ============
Diluted net income
 per share           $       0.85  $       0.82  $       1.63  $       1.50
                     ============  ============  ============  ============
Shares used in per
 share computations:
Basic                      29,914        29,827        29,902        29,809
                     ============  ============  ============  ============
Diluted                    29,919        29,833        29,907        29,816
                     ============  ============  ============  ============
Dividends per share  $       0.70  $       0.70  $       0.70  $       0.70
                     ============  ============  ============  ============



                              PRICESMART, INC.
                         CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                  (AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE DATA)

                                                February 29,
                                                    2016        August 31,
                                                 (Unaudited)       2015
                                               -------------- --------------
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents                      $      173,008 $      157,072
Short-term restricted cash                                135             61
Receivables, net of allowance for doubtful
 accounts of $0 as of February 29, 2016 and
 August 31, 2015, respectively                          7,178          9,662
Merchandise inventories                               260,101        267,175
Prepaid expenses and other current assets              24,366         22,535
                                               -------------- --------------
Total current assets                                  464,788        456,505
Long-term restricted cash                               2,360          1,464
Property and equipment, net                           440,523        433,040
Goodwill                                               35,701         35,871
Deferred tax assets - long term                        13,648         14,845
Other non-current assets (includes $4,735 and
 $4,129 as of February 29, 2016 and August 31,
 2015, respectively, for the fair value of
 derivative instruments)                               41,012         39,182
Investment in unconsolidated affiliates                10,811         10,317
                                               -------------- --------------
Total Assets                                   $    1,008,843 $      991,224
                                               ============== ==============
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Short-term borrowings                          $           -- $        6,606
Accounts payable                                      237,810        241,978
Accrued salaries and benefits                          15,124         17,977
Deferred membership income                             21,804         20,184
Income taxes payable                                    6,398          9,595
Other accrued expenses (includes $216 and $66
 as of February 29, 2016 and August 31, 2015,
 respectively, for the fair value of foreign
 currency forward contracts)                           22,649         23,558
Dividends payable                                      10,629             --
Long-term debt, current portion                        16,018         17,169
                                               -------------- --------------
Total current liabilities                             330,432        337,067
Deferred tax liability - long-term                      1,544          1,755
Long-term portion of deferred rent                      8,253          6,595
Long-term income taxes payable, net of current
 portion                                                1,050          1,402
Long-term debt, net of current portion                 75,047         73,365
Other long-term liabilities (includes $1,977
 and $1,699 for the fair value of derivative
 instruments and $3,571 and $2,757 for post
 employment plans as of February 29, 2016and
 August 31, 2015, respectively)                         5,548          4,456
                                               -------------- --------------
Total Liabilities                                     421,874        424,640
Equity:
Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 45,000,000
 shares authorized; 31,189,728 and 30,977,764
 shares issued and 30,369,911 and 30,184,584
 shares outstanding (net of treasury shares)
 as of February 29, 2016 and August 31, 2015,
 respectively                                              3              3
Additional paid-in capital                           407,826        403,168
Tax benefit from stock-based compensation             11,269         10,711
Accumulated other comprehensive loss                (112,743)      (101,512)
Retained earnings                                    311,967        283,611
Less: treasury stock at cost; 819,817 shares
 as of February 29, 2016 and 793,180 shares as
 of August 31, 2015                                  (31,353)       (29,397)
                                               -------------  -------------
Total Equity                                         586,969        566,584
                                               -------------  -------------
Total Liabilities and Equity                   $   1,008,843  $     991,224
                                               =============  =============

For further information, please contact
John M. Heffner
Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer
(858) 404-8826

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