Announces secondary offering of common stock by Wellspring.

Susser Holdings Corp. has provided partial preliminary financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2012,  ended July 1, 2012. 

Susser expects to report:

• Same-store merchandise sales growth of approximately 8% year-over-year, versus growth of 5.8% for the year-earlier period.

• Total merchandise sales of approximately $253 million, up 11.8% from a year ago.

• Average merchandise margin of 33.9-34.3%, versus 34% in the second quarter of 2011.

• Retail average per-store fuel volume growth of approximately 8% year-over-year, versus growth of 3.6% for the prior-year period.

• Retail fuel margin of approximately 32.1-32.6 cents per gallon, compared with 31.2 cents per gallon a year ago.

• Wholesale fuel margin of approximately 6.9 – 7.4 cents per gallon, versus 7.0 cents per gallon in the year-ago period.

• Total retail fuel sold of approximately 215 million gallons, up 10.7% from a year ago.

• Total wholesale fuel sold of approximately 153 million gallons, up 19.8% from a year earlier.

• Consolidated gross profit of approximately $177-$182 million, versus $158.9 million a year ago.

• Total selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense of approximately $106-$111 million, versus $99.1 million in the second quarter of last year.

 SG&A expense includes personnel, general and administrative, rent, credit card, utilities, maintenance and other operating expenses. It excludes depreciation, amortization and gain/loss on disposal of assets. Included in second quarter 2012 SG&A is non-cash stock compensation expense of approximately $1.7 million.

The preliminary merchandise same-store sales growth, retail average per-store fuel volume growth and retail and wholesale fuel margin results for the quarter ended July 1, 2012 set forth above are generally in excess of the company’s expectations as reflected in the full fiscal year 2012 guidance ranges previously published by the Company.  Consequently, the company expects these results will exert upward pressure on corresponding full year 2012 guidance ranges, and plans to reassess those guidance ranges in connection with its definitive earnings release scheduled for Aug. 8, 2012.

New Store Update
Susser opened six new large-format Stripes convenience stores and closed one smaller store during the second quarter for a total of 545 stores as of July 1.  One additional store has opened during the third quarter, bringing the number of new Stripes stores constructed year-to-date to eight.  The company currently has 11 additional retail stores under construction and expects to build a total of 25 to 30 in fiscal 2012. Susser expects to build 28-35 sites in 2013 and continues to invest in its land bank for future development.

In addition, seven new wholesale dealer sites were added during the latest quarter, and seven were discontinued for a total of 567 contracted branded dealer and consignment locations as of July 1.  Year-to-date, Susser has added 14 new dealer sites and discontinued 12.

Secondary Offering of Common Stock
Susser also announced today the commencement of an underwritten public secondary offering by its largest shareholder, Wellspring Capital Management, of four million of its shares of Susser Holdings Corp. common stock. In connection with the offering, Wellspring will grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the secondary offering was publicly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and is available on the SEC’s website.

Susser will not receive any proceeds from the offering, and its total number of shares outstanding—which were 20,956,237 as of July 1, 2012—will not change as a result of the offering. Wellspring acquired its position in the company as part of a recapitalization of Susser Holdings in 2005 and has not sold any shares of Susser stock since that time.

Susser will release its complete second quarter 2012 financial results before the market opens on Wednesday, Aug. 8. In conjunction with the release, the company has scheduled a conference call that will be broadcast live over the Internet the same day at 11 a.m. Eastern Time ( 10 a.m. Central Time).  Investors may participate either by phone or audio webcast.

By Phone:  Dial 480-629-9692 at least 10 minutes before the call.  A replay will be available through August 15 by dialing 303-590-3030 and using the access code 4552146#.

By Webcast: Visit the Events and Presentations page of Susser’s Investor Relations Website at http://investor.susser.com. Please log in at least 10 minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software.  A replay will be available shortly after the call.