Plano-based Rent-A-Center said Monday the addition of smartphones in July to its merchandise mix helped its U.S. stores improve sales.
The nation’s largest rent-to-own operator reported a third-quarter profit of $25.3 million, or 48 cents a share, in the period ended Sept. 30, versus a profit of $27.2 million, or 50 cents a share, a year ago.
Results were reported after the market closed.
Profit beat analyst estimates by a penny, but sales were slightly below the forecast of $773 million, based on a survey from Thomson Reuters.
Total sales increased 2 percent to $769.5 million from $754.8 million a year ago. Same-store sales, or sales from stores open at least a year, increased 1.9 percent from a year ago.
Sales gains were largely from its Acceptance Now financing business and its Mexico stores.
U.S. same-store sales fell 3.6 percent. That was an improvement over earlier this year. CEO Robert Davis partially attributed it to the smartphone rollout.