America’s Car-Mart Sees Net Income Slip Slightly On Car Prices

America's Car-Mart said its net income slipped slightly as the average retail price of a vehicle sold fell 2%.

For the Bentonville-based used car chain's first quarter, revenues actually rose 9.4% to $110 million as the company continued its steady pace of new dealerships.

Profits for the quarter topped $8.1 million, down slightly from $8.2 million one year ago.

“We are pleased with our first quarter results, specifically as related to the significant sequential decrease in our average retail sales price,” said William H. (“Hank”) Henderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of America's Car-Mart. “The market for good used vehicles remains tight and day in and day out our 45 purchasing agents are in the local markets out-working the competition to find the very best vehicles fo

r our customers.”

The company noted that the average retail sales price for a vehicle decreased by $200, or 2%, from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 and only increased by 1.5% from the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

“We believe that we can push even harder to keep affordability levels high by looking at more cars and only selecting the very best at the appropriate prices,” said Henderson.

Car-Mart also disclosed that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 1 million additional shares of the company's stock. With recent purchases, the company has acquired 23.2% of its own shares.

Car-Mart's stock ended trading on Thursday at a new 52-week closing high, $48.60 per share. The company's stock has traded between $25.81 and $49.20 per share during the past year.