UniFirst Corp (UNF) Reports Strong Q4 and Full Fiscal Year 2023 Results
Consolidated revenues for Q4 increased by 10.7% to $571.9 million.
Full year consolidated revenues rose by 11.6% to $2.233 billion.
Net income for the year increased to $103.7 million, a 0.3% rise.
Diluted earnings per share increased to $5.53 from $5.46 in the prior year, a 1.3% increase.
UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF) released its earnings report for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year of 2023 on October 18, 2023. The company reported a significant increase in both quarterly and annual revenues, demonstrating strong financial performance despite the challenges of the fiscal year.
Financial Highlights
For the fourth quarter, UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF) reported consolidated revenues of $571.9 million, marking a 10.7% increase. Operating income rose by 8.5% to $36.1 million, and net income increased to $27.6 million, or 5.5%. Diluted earnings per share also saw a rise, increasing to $1.47 from $1.39 in the prior year, a 5.8% increase.
For the full fiscal year, the company reported consolidated revenues of $2.233 billion, an 11.6% increase. However, full year operating income saw a slight decrease of 0.6% to $133.6 million. Despite this, net income for the year increased to $103.7 million, a 0.3% rise, and diluted earnings per share increased to $5.53 from $5.46 in the prior year, a 1.3% increase.
Segment Reporting Highlights
The Core Laundry Operations segment saw a 10.1% increase in revenues for the quarter to $505.0 million. However, the operating margin decreased to 6.0% from 6.3%. The Specialty Garments segment reported revenues of $41.4 million for the quarter, a 13.0% increase, with the operating margin increasing to 16.4% from 11.0% a year ago.
Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation
As of August 26, 2023, the company had cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling $89.6 million. The company had no long-term debt outstanding as of the same date. UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF) paid dividends to shareholders of $22.1 million, a 6.3% increase from the prior year. The company did not repurchase any shares of common stock in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
Financial Outlook
For fiscal 2024, the company expects revenues to be between $2.415 billion and $2.435 billion and fully diluted earnings per share to be between $6.52 and $7.16. This guidance includes $16.0 million of costs directly attributable to the company's Key Initiatives that are expected to be expensed in fiscal 2024.
Steven Sintros, UniFirst President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
I am pleased to report that we closed the year with a fourth quarter that modestly exceeded our expectations in terms of top and bottom-line performance. We accomplished a lot as a team in fiscal 2023 that will help strengthen our company as we move forward; growing our business, implementing new technology and closing on our mid-year acquisition of Clean Uniform."
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
