MarineMax Reports $13 Million Fourth-Quarter Net Loss Ahead of Safe Harbor Vote

MarineMax reported a net loss of $13.0 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, ended September 30, as the cost of its pending sale to Safe Harbor Marinas pushed the retailer into the red. The results, released Wednesday, November 4, come a week before shareholders vote on the $53-a-share cash deal.

The loss works out at $0.59 a share, against a loss of $0.9 million ($0.04) in the same quarter a year earlier. According to the company’s results release, transaction and other costs came to $12.5 million in the quarter and $25.9 million for the full year, and the rise in selling, general and administrative expenses was mainly down to costs of the acquisition. Stripping those out, the adjusted net loss was $1.8 million, or $0.08 a share.

Sales Down, Margins Up

Revenue fell to $520.1 million from $552.2 million, with same-store sales down 5.7 per cent. Gross profit still rose, and the margin widened by 270 basis points to 37.4 per cent, the same shift towards higher-margin marina, superyacht, parts and service business that Powerboat News reported in the June quarter. Adjusted EBITDA rose 26 per cent to $21.8 million.

By segment, Retail Operations made an operating profit of $2.2 million in the quarter. Product Manufacturing lost $1.9 million, and its operating loss for the year was $13.7 million.

The Full Year

Revenue for the year to September 30 was $2.164 billion, down from $2.309 billion, with same-store sales down 5.5 per cent. The net loss narrowed to $8.2 million ($0.37 a share) from $31.6 million ($1.43), a prior-year figure that included a $69.1 million goodwill impairment. Adjusted earnings were $0.58 a share against $0.42, and adjusted EBITDA was $112.6 million against $109.8 million.

Cash stood at $156.4 million against $170.4 million a year earlier. Inventory fell 6.3 per cent to $812.8 million, and short-term borrowings were $613.7 million, down from $715.7 million.

MarineMax will not hold an earnings call for these results and does not plan to give guidance for fiscal 2027 while the sale is pending.

Where the Safe Harbor Deal Stands

Safe Harbor Marinas, a Blackstone Infrastructure portfolio company, agreed on August 10 to buy all of MarineMax’s shares for $53.00 each in cash, a deal that values the business at about $1.5 billion. Donerail Group’s original proposal in January was $35 a share, as Powerboat News has followed since Donerail raised its bid. MarineMax says it still expects to close by the end of calendar 2026.

Shareholders vote at a virtual special meeting at 10:00am Eastern on November 11, with the record date set at September 23. Approval needs a majority of the votes entitled to be cast, according to the proxy statement filed on October 2.

That proxy statement said the US antitrust waiting period would expire on October 30 unless it was extended or ended early, and that non-US merger control or foreign investment filings might also be required. It sets a termination fee of $31.65 million, payable only in specified circumstances, and obliges the parties to use reasonable best efforts to close before May 9, 2027, with two automatic three-month extensions possible.