O’Reilly Auto lays out Henslee succession plan

Greg Henslee

Greg Johnson

Jeff Shaw

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Record revenue reported by O’Reilly Auto

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) posted record revenue and its 25th consecutive year of comparable store sales growth.

Sales rose 4.5 percent to nearly $9 billion. Though the growth rate is down from 4.8 percent in 2016, comparable store sales increased by 1.4 percent during 2017, according to a news release.

Full-year financial notes:

• Net income increased to $1.1 billion from $1 billion a year earlier.

• The company repurchased 9.3 million shares of its stock for an investment of $2.2 billion.

• The company added 198 new stores and closed eight to end the year at 5,019.

As of Dec. 31, O’Reilly Auto’s assets were $7.6 billion. The company employed 75,552 at year’s end, according to the release.

On the same day it reported record annual earnings, O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) detailed its succession plan for CEO Greg Henslee.

Effective May 8, Henslee will become executive vice chairman of the board; co-President Greg Johnson will be promoted to CEO and co-president; and co-President Jeff Shaw will take on the chief operating officer role in addition to his co-president title, according to a news release. The Springfield-based auto parts retailer in 2017 also used its full-year earnings report to announce the promotion of Johnson and Shaw to co-presidents.

David O’Reilly is slated to remain executive chairman of the board.

“After 33 years with team O’Reilly and 13 years as CEO, Greg has communicated his desire to transition into a new role with the company,” O’Reilly said in the release. “Greg has provided outstanding executive leadership for our company, and we are extremely fortunate to retain his continued guidance.

“Greg has done an exceptional job planning for his succession by preparing Greg Johnson and Jeff Shaw to take over the day-to-day operations of the business.”

Under Henslee’s tenure as CEO, O’Reilly Auto grew its sales to $9 billion in 2017 from $1.7 billion in 2005 and its store count to 5,019 in 47 states from 1,249 in 19 states.

Johnson will be the company’s third CEO after Henslee and O’Reilly.

“Greg Henslee and David O’Reilly have both set great examples as leaders, and I look forward to continuing to leverage their expert guidance as executive board members,” Johnson said in the release.