Casey’s General Stores plans to expand into Arkansas

Casey’s General Stores Inc. is looking to expand into Arkansas, the Ankeny, Iowa-based convenience store operator said Monday in its quarterly earnings report.

Casey’s President and CEO Robert J. Myers said the company’s goal for 2010 is to increase its total total number of retail locations by 4%. Casey’s operates more than 1,500 retail stores throughout the Midwest, most in small rural communities.

“Our pipeline of acquisitions and new store construction sites under review is almost double of what it was at this time last year, and we recently signed purchase agreements for real estate in Arkansas," Myers said in a news release. "We could not be more optimistic about the growth potential of Casey’s right now."

In a conference call with analysts, Casey’s CFO Williams Walljasper said the company expansion plans include new construction of "four to five" retail stores in Arkansas. Walljasper also said that the company is looking at possible acquisitions in the "northern tier" of Arkansas. The company has a number of stores in Missouri across the state line from Bella Vista and in the Branson/Springfield area.

Casey’s is also the target of a $2 billion hostile takeover by rival Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates Circle K convenience stores. Last week, Casey filed a federal complaint against Couche-Tard alleging that the Canadian company violated securities laws with its unsolicited tender offer to purchase all of Casey’s outstanding shares for $36 per share.

Casey’s boards of directors have also recommended that shareholders reject its rival’s offer because it undervalues the convenience store operator’s shares.

Also, Casey’s reported Tuesday (June 15) net income of $22 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with net income of $15.6 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago. Wall Street had expected the convenience store chain to report earnings of earn 43 cents a share on revenue of $1.15 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

In midday trading, Casey’s shares were up 18 cents at $36.14. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $39.56 high to a $24.47 low.