Unifirst Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2024

Financial Performance - Consolidated revenues for Q3 2024 increased by 4.6% to $603.3 million compared to $576.7 million in Q3 2023 [6][12] - Operating income rose significantly by 45.1% to $48.5 million, while net income increased by 56.8% to $38.1 million [6][12] - Diluted earnings per share increased to $2.03 from $1.29, reflecting a growth of 57.4% [6][12] - EBITDA for the quarter increased by 29.0% to $82.5 million compared to $64.0 million in the prior year [6][12] Key Initiatives and Costs - The financial results included costs of approximately $3.9 million and $8.4 million related to customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects for Q3 2024 and 2023, respectively [2][14] - Costs associated with the acquisition of Clean Uniform during Q3 2023 amounted to approximately $0.7 million [2][14] - These costs combined decreased Core Laundry Operations' operating margin and EBITDA margin by 0.7% and 1.8%, respectively, for both Q3 2024 and 2023 [14][24] Segment Performance - Core Laundry Operations reported revenues of $528.5 million, reflecting a 5.3% increase, while organic growth was 4.7% [17][18] - The operating margin for Core Laundry Operations improved to 7.0% from 4.2%, and the EBITDA margin increased to 13.1% from 9.9% [6][12][24] - Specialty Garments segment revenues decreased by 3.7% to $47.6 million, primarily due to a decline in nuclear operations [25] Cash Flow and Balance Sheet - Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $125.4 million as of May 25, 2024, with no long-term debt outstanding [3][6] - Cash flow from operating activities increased by 35.2% to $193.0 million for the first nine months of 2024 compared to the prior year [6][12] Financial Outlook - The company expects revenues for fiscal 2024 to be between $2.415 billion and $2.425 billion, with fully diluted earnings per share projected between $7.17 and $7.49 [9][27] - An estimate of $12.0 million in costs related to Key Initiatives is expected to decrease both operating and EBITDA margins by 0.6% [27]