Price Company : SAN DIEGO
Nature of Business: Owns and operates Price Club membership stores Total employees: 22,500 In Orange County: 1,025 Stock listing in The Times: On NASDAQ as “PriceCo” Ticker symbol: “PCLB” Friday’s stock close: $38 One-week change: Down $0.50 Analyst review: “Price Co. gets 50% of its sales volume from California. Obviously, it has been affected by the recession. A good majority of its customers are small businesses, and they’ve been hurt by the recession as well. Those factors have hurt the company over the last one or two years. But the Price Co. of today is different than the stores of two years ago. I think it has made the right moves and has made them conservatively. Membership warehouse stores is a $35 billion growth industry and in fiscal ‘92, Price Co. had revenues of $7.5 billion, or 20% of that market. It also recently announced new operations opening in Spain. International expansion . . . that’s not bad.” --Douglas Christopher, analyst Crowell, Weedon & Co., Los Angeles Revenue Dollar amounts in billions
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 $4.1 $5.0 $5.4 $6.8 $7.5
Profit Dollar amounts in millions
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 $94.8 $117.0 $125.4 $134.1 $129.1
Corporate Outlook: “Looking ahead to fiscal 1993, much of what affected Price Co. in fiscal 1992 continues, and our results will continue to reflect those problems. However, we believe that the innovations, the investments in our facilities and our management plan are in the best interests of the company in the long run.” --Robert E. Price, chairman/CEO RETURN ON INVESTMENT: 5-YEAR SUMMARY
Fiscal year ending Aug. 31 Aug. 31 Aug. 31 Aug. 31 1988 1989 1990 1991 52-Week High $50.25 $47.75 $49.50 $65.25 52-Week Low $23.50 $34.75 $30.25 $26.50 Book Value Per Share $9.77 $9.93 $11.52 $13.75 Price Per Share $36.50 $42.75 $33.25 $63.50 Net Earnings Per Share $1.93 $2.30 $2.47 $2.63 Price-to-Earnings Ratio 19:1 19:1 13:1 24:1 Avg. Return on Investor Equity 20% 22% 20% 18%
Fiscal year ending Aug. 31 1992 52-Week High $64.75 52-Week Low $29.50 Book Value Per Share $13.90 Price Per Share $33.00 Net Earnings Per Share $2.54 Price-to-Earnings Ratio 13:1 Avg. Return on Investor Equity 16%
For more information call or write, Price Co., 4649 Morena Blvd., San Diego, Calif. 92186-5466. (619) 581-4600. Source: Price Co.; Researched by TOM McQUEENEY/For The Times
