Canadian Tire profit beats as sports gear, apparel sales rise

(Reuters) - Retailer Canadian Tire Corp Ltd (CTCa.TO) reported a better- than-expected quarterly profit as sales of sports gear and apparel rose.

Revenue from the company's Canadian Tire retail stores rose 4.5 percent to C$1.91 billion ($1.46 billion) in the second quarter ended July 2. The business accounted for more than half of the company's total revenue.

Revenue in its FGL Sports brand, which sells sports and related products, rose 12.8 percent to C$496.5 million.

Retail sales at its Mark's brand, under which the company sells casual and work clothing and footwear, increased 4.1 percent to C$260.9 million.

However, Canadian Tire's petroleum retail sales fell 6.8 percent to C$432 million.

Total retail sales, which exclude revenue generated from Canadian Tire's financial services and real estate investment trust businesses, rose 3.1 percent to C$3.98 billion.

Its selling, general and administrative expenses rose 5.4 percent.

Net income attributable to the company rose 8.1 percent to C$179.4 million, or C$2.46 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of C$2.33, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total revenue increased nearly 3 percent to C$3.35 billion, topping the average estimate of C$3.31 billion.

(Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)