Cintas Corporation F4Q08 (Qtr End 05/31/08) Earnings Call Transcript

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Q4 2008 Earnings Call July 15, 2008 5:00 PM ET

Executives

William Gale – Sr. VP Finance & CFO
Michael Thompson – VP & Treasurer

Analysts

Kartik Mehta - FTN Midwest Research
Andrea Wirth – Robert W. Baird
Ashwin Shirvaikar – Citigroup
Scott Schneeberger – Oppenheimer
Michel Morin - Merrill Lynch
Gary Bisbee - Lehman Brothers
Brandt Sakakeeny - Deutsche Bank
Greg Halter - Great Lakes Review

Operator

Good day everyone and welcome to the Cintas quarterly earnings results conference call. At this time I would like to turn the call over to Mr. William Gale, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer; please go ahead sir.

William Gale

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us to hear about Cintas’ fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

Despite the pressure of increasing energy prices and a sluggish US economy we are pleased to announce that Cintas achieved its 39^th consecutive year of growth in sales and profit. For the year revenues increased 6.2% to a record $3.9 billion and earnings per diluted share were $2.15, an increase of 3% over the amount in fiscal 2007.

In the fourth quarter total company revenues increased over 6% on a comparable work day basis. Earnings per diluted share in the fourth quarter were $0.58 compared to $0.57 last year. Last year’s fourth quarter results included a $6.2 million pre-tax benefit from the termination of a forward interest swap that increased last year’s earnings per share by approximately $0.02.5. Excluding this unusual item the earnings per share growth for this year’s fourth quarter compared to last year was over 6%.

Joining me today is Michael Thompson, Cintas’ Vice President and Treasurer. After Michael and I provide some additional commentary on the quarter we will then open the call to questions.