Genuine Parts Q3 Profit Increases - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Automotive aftermarket distributor Genuine Parts Co.'s (GPC) net income for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014 rose to $190.5 million from $173.7 million in the same period of the previous year. Earnings per share were $1.24 up from $1.12 last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.24 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Quarterly net sales grew to $3.99 billion from $3.69 billion in the prior year. Wall Street expected revenues of $3.93 billion for the quarter.

In review of the third quarter, Thomas Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are pleased to report another quarter of record sales as well as a solid 10% comparative earnings increase. Our 8% total sales increase includes approximately 5.4% underlying sales growth and a 3.3% contribution from acquisitions offset by a currency headwind of approximately 0.5%. Our overall sales growth was also supported by increases in each of our four business segments, with sales for the Automotive Group up 4%, which essentially represents our core automotive growth for the quarter."