: Pool and spa supplier Leslie’s calls for lower sales, profit, as consumers affected by higher prices

Shares of spa and pool supplies retailer Leslie’s Inc. LESL dropped more than 18% in the extended session Thursday after the company’s preliminary quarterly results were below Wall Street expectations and led to a lowered outlook for the year. Leslie’s also announced that its chief financial officer is stepping down. The company said it expects sales of $611 million for the fiscal third quarter, which includes a same-store sales decline of 12%. It called for adjusted earnings per share between 39 cents and 41 cents. FactSet consensus for the quarter calls for adjusted EPS of 69 cents on sales of $701 million. Fiscal third-quarter results “were well below our expectations,” Chief Executive Mike Egeck said in a statement. The company faced double-digit traffic declines in its residential and pro businesses, and internal surveys showed that consumers were affected by higher prices and that many kicked off pool season with a greater-than-normal amount of chemicals leftover from last year, Egeck said. Leslie’s lowered its 2023 outlook, calling for sales between $1.43 billion and $1.45 billion, and adjusted EPS of between 28 cents and 32 cents. In the same statement, Leslie’s said that Scott Bowman has been appointed its new chief financial officer, effective Aug. 7. Bowman will join the company next week and serve as CFO-designate until then. Steve Weddell, who is stepping down as CFO on that August date, will remain an adviser to the company through December to ease the transition, the company said. Shares of Leslie’s ended the regular trading day down 2.6%.

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