PriceSmart Profit Climbs 19% As Currency Adds 6.0% To Quarterly Sales Growth
Net income reached $37.6 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, while constant-currency sales growth was 7.8% against 13.8% reported.
PriceSmart, which runs membership warehouse clubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, said fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 19.3% to $37.6 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, in results released Monday. Foreign-currency effects supplied 6.0% of the 13.8% growth in net merchandise sales.
Currency flatters the sales line
Total revenues for the quarter ended August 31 rose 13.9% to $1.52 billion, and net merchandise sales rose 13.8% to $1.48 billion. Currency exchange effects added $78.5 million, or 6.0%, so growth in constant currency was 7.8%.
Comparable sales at the 55 clubs open longer than 13½ months rose 12.2% as reported for the 13 weeks ended August 30. In constant currency the gain was 6.2%.
Operating income was $57.0 million, against $52.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA, the company's earnings measure before interest, taxes and depreciation, was $83.5 million against $75.5 million. Net income was $31.5 million, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier.
A full year of double-digit gains
For fiscal 2026, net income rose 12.6% to $166.6 million, or $5.40 per diluted share, from $147.9 million, or $4.82. Revenue rose 11.5% to $5.88 billion. Net merchandise sales grew 11.7%, or 8.4% in constant currency.
The company, which sells groceries, fresh foods, appliances and other goods to members who pay an annual fee, had 58 clubs on August 31, up from 56 a year earlier. Membership fees were about 1.8% of net merchandise sales and 38.6% of operating income in fiscal 2026, according to its annual report.
Jamaica opens, four more clubs queued
PriceSmart opened its third club in Jamaica in October, in Montego Bay, with a sales floor of about 42,000 square feet. It runs 59 clubs in 12 countries and one U.S. territory.
Four more openings are planned: Kingston, Jamaica, in December; Villa Nueva, Guatemala, in late winter of 2027; Heredia, Costa Rica, in spring 2027; and Santiago, Chile, in spring 2027. That would bring the total to 63 clubs.
Management hosts a call at 12:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, October 27, to discuss the results.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — PRICESMART INC (PSMT) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit psmt-20260831xexx991.htm — PRICESMART INC 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- PRICESMART ANNOUNCES FISCAL 2026 FOURTH QUARTER OPERATING RESULTS AND OPENING OF THIRD CLUB IN JAMAICA — prnewswire.com
