PriceSmart (PSMT) Announces November Merchandise Sales

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) today announced that for the month of November 2019, net merchandise sales increased 7.5% to $278.3 million from $258.9 million in November a year earlier. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted net merchandise sales negatively by $2.3 million or 0.8% versus the same prior year one-month period.

Fiscal year to date, which includes the three months ended November 30, 2019, net merchandise sales increased 4.2% to $778.8 million from $747.4 million for the three months ended November 30, 2018. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted net merchandise sales negatively by $12.2 million or 1.6% versus the same prior year three-month period. There were 45 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of November 2019 and 41 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of November 2018.

For the five weeks ended December 1, 2019, comparable net merchandise sales for the 41 warehouse clubs open at least 13 ½ full months increased 0.8%, compared to the same five-week period last year. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted comparable net merchandise sales negatively by $2.5 million or 0.8% versus the same prior year period.

For the thirteen-week period ended December 1, 2019, comparable net merchandise sales increased 1.0%, compared to the same thirteen-week period a year ago. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted comparable net merchandise sales negatively by $11.3 million or 1.5% versus the same prior year period.

New Club Opening:PriceSmart, Inc. also announced that on November 13, 2019, the Company opened a new warehouse club in Guatemala City, Guatemala bringing to 45 the total number of warehouse clubs in operation by the Company. This warehouse club is located within the San Cristobal development, in the southwestern side of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The San Cristobal club is PriceSmart's fourth warehouse club in Guatemala and the first to utilize the Company's smaller warehouse club format in that country.

"In November, we opened our 45th club, 'San Cristobal,' our fourth club in Guatemala. This is the fourth club opened in calendar year 2019, and four additional clubs previously announced are currently under construction or are planned to be opened in calendar year 2020. We believe that these new clubs are strategically located to drive sales growth, provide greater convenience, improve member experience, and strengthen our presence in these markets. We also expect, however, in certain markets, this will transfer some sales, impacting our comparable net merchandise sales. We believe these are prudent investments that over time will strengthen our importance in the lives of our members and the performance of our Company," concluded Sherry Bahrambeygui, Chief Executive Officer.

First Quarter 2020 Earnings Announcement Details:PriceSmart plans to release first quarter fiscal year 2020 financial results on Thursday, January 9, 2020, after the market closes. PriceSmart management will host a conference call at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time (9:00 a.m. Pacific time) on Friday, January 10, 2020, to discuss the financial results. Individuals interested in participating in the conference call may do so by dialing (855) 209-8211 toll free, or (412) 317-5214 for international callers and asking to join the PriceSmart, Inc. call. A digital replay will be available through January 17, 2020, following the conclusion of the call by dialing (877) 344-7529 for domestic callers, or (412) 317-0088 for international callers, and entering replay passcode 10137166.

The Company reports comparable net merchandise sales on a "same week" basis with 13 weeks in each quarter beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday. The periods are established at the beginning of the fiscal year to provide as close a match as possible to the calendar month and quarter that is used for financial reporting purposes. This approach equalizes the number of weekend days and weekdays in each period for improved sales comparison, as we experience higher merchandise club sales on the weekends. Each of the warehouse clubs used in the calculations was open for at least 13 ½ calendar months before its results for the current period were compared with its results for the prior period.

The term "currency exchange rates" refers to the currency exchange rates we use to convert net merchandise and comparable net merchandise sales for all countries where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar into U.S. dollars. We calculate the effect of changes in currency exchange rates as the difference between current period activities translated using the current period's currency exchange rates, and the comparable prior year period's currency exchange rates. The disclosure of the effects of currency exchange rate fluctuations on the Company's results permits investors to understand better our underlying performance.

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