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Clearwater-Based MarineMax Sees Sales Drop Nearly 50%

Tribune file photo by CANDACE C. MUNDY (2006)

Boats sit outside the showroom at MarineMax, 18025 U.S. 19.

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By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

Hit hard by the likely recession and credit crisis, boat dealership chain MarineMax Inc. lost $11.1 million in its most recent quarter and saw its sales fall nearly 50 percent.

On Tuesday, Clearwater-based MarineMax announced that it lost $11.1 million, or 60 cents per share, in its fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $6.6 million, or 35 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The company's sales fell to $165.6 million in the fourth quarter from $318.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

Sales at stores open for at least a year, or "same store sales," fell by 45 percent.

"The already difficult economic environment grew increasingly challenging as the September quarter progressed, resulting from the growing turmoil in the financial markets, which impacted our results as well as those of most other retailers," company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William McGill Jr. said.

During the entire 2008 fiscal year, MarineMax had a loss of $134.3 million, or $7.30 per share, compared with a profit of $20.1 million, or $1.04 per share, during fiscal year 2007. Much of that loss, $122.1 million, related to a reduction in the company's goodwill rather than an operating loss. Sales in fiscal year 2008 fell to $885.4 million from $1.26 billion in 2007.

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