Genuine Parts 3Q Income Falls 18 Pct, Sales Slip

ATLANTA (AP) — Genuine Parts Co. said Friday its third-quarter net income fell 18 percent, though the maker of automotive replacement parts said its decline in sales has begun to slow.

The company said its profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell to $107.6 million, or 67 cents per share. That's down from $131 million, or 81 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Sales fell 9.6 percent to $2.61 billion from $2.88 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters called for a profit of 65 cents per share on $2.6 billion in revenue.

The company said that although sales of replacement parts remains down, the decline has slowed compared with previous quarters. The company's automotive group reported a 1 percent decrease in sales, compared with 5 percent in the second quarter.

The company's office products group saw sales fall 5 percent, down a percentage point from last quarter. The industrial and electrical groups reported "significant" sales drops, in line with the prior quarter, the company said.

"2009 has proven to be a challenging year," Chairman, President and CEO Thomas C. Gallagher said in a statement. "We continue to have confidence in the long-term positive fundamentals for all four of our business segments."

Shares of Genuine Parts fell $1.23, or 3.2 percent, to $37.73 in morning trading.