Pool Corporation Reports Fiscal 2010 Results

Highlights for the year include:

-- Sales growth of 5%, including 2% from base business
-- 14% increase in operating income
-- 2010 Diluted EPS of $1.15
-- 2011 Diluted EPS guidance of $1.27 to $1.35

COVINGTON, La., Feb. 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pool Corporation (Nasdaq:POOL)
today announced fourth quarter and full year 2010 results.

"As expected, 2010 proved to be a transitional year. Our successful execution
was the primary factor driving our increased sales and earnings. This
performance, coupled with strong cash flow generation, enabled us to not only
further de-leverage our balance sheet, but also to resume repurchasing shares
and complete three acquisitions," commented Manuel Perez de la Mesa, President
and CEO.

Net sales for the year ended December 31, 2010 increased 5% to $1.61 billion,
compared to $1.54 billion in 2009. Base business sales increased 2% due to
market share gains and some gradual improvement in external market trends that
resulted in higher discretionary purchases by consumers. Base business sales
growth for the year includes 3% growth on the swimming pool side of the
business, with increases in many markets and most product categories. While
sales on the irrigation side of the business decreased compared to 2009, sales
declines moderated as 2010 progressed.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2010 increased 5% to $471.3 million
from $449.7 million in 2009. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales (gross
margin) remained flat year over year at 29.2% as improved pricing and purchasing
discipline offset downward margin pressures due to the competitive pricing
environment.

Selling and administrative expenses (operating expenses) for 2010 increased 2%
to $370.0 million from $361.3 million in 2009. This increase is primarily due to
the impact of expenses related to recent acquisitions. Base business operating
expenses were essentially flat year over year with a $9.1 million increase in
incentive costs offset by decreases in bad debt expense, facility lease costs
and other expenses.

Operating income for the year improved 14% to $101.2 million from $88.4 million
in 2009. Operating income as a percentage of net sales (operating margin)
increased to 6.3% in 2010 compared to 5.7% in 2009. Adjusted EBITDA (as defined
in the addendum to this release) was $121.4 million in 2010 compared to $107.9
million in 2009. Interest expense, net declined $3.0 million compared to 2009
due primarily to a 23% decline in average debt outstanding.

The Company no longer has an equity interest in Latham Acquisition Corporation
(LAC) and has not recognized any impact related to LAC's 2010 results. The
Company recognized a total equity loss of $28.7 million in 2009 for LAC,
including a $26.5 million equity loss related to its pro rata share of LAC's
non-cash goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charge.

Earnings per share for 2010 was $1.15 per diluted share on net income of $57.6
million for the year, compared to earnings per share of $0.39 per diluted share
on net income of $19.2 million in 2009. Excluding the impact of LAC's non-cash
impairment charge, adjusted earnings per diluted share for 2009 was $0.93 on
adjusted net income of $45.7 million. Earnings per share for 2010 increased
$0.22 per diluted share, or 24% compared to the adjusted 2009 amount. (See the
reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures in the addendum to this release).

On the balance sheet, total net receivables increased 5% compared to December
31, 2009 due to an increase in current trade receivables as a result of base
business sales growth, higher vendor rebate receivables and the impact from the
reduction in the allowance for doubtful accounts. This increase was partially
offset by reductions in past due receivable balances due primarily to
significant improvements in customer collections. Inventory levels declined 2%
to $347.4 million at December 31, 2010 compared to $355.5 million at December
31, 2009. Excluding inventory from recent acquisitions, inventories decreased 4%
year over year due to continued inventory rebalancing efforts. Total debt
outstanding at December 31, 2010 was $198.7 million, down $50.0 million from the
balance at December 31, 2009.

Cash provided by operations was $94.0 million in 2010, a decrease of $19.3
million compared to 2009 due primarily to a decline in cash generated from
working capital improvements. In 2009, cash provided by operations benefited
from a 17% year over year reduction in accounts receivable balances and a 12%
year over year reduction in inventory levels as of December 31, 2009.

Net sales for the seasonally slow fourth quarter increased 4% to $241.4 million
compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. Base business sales improved 4% in the
quarter compared to the same period in 2009. Gross margin increased 150 basis
points to 30.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010 from 29.0% for the same period
last year. This margin expansion reflects a benefit from continued improvements
in pricing and purchasing discipline. Combined with fourth quarter purchasing
strategies that included a favorable impact from a higher percentage of total
purchases from preferred vendors, these improvements offset the lingering
negative impact from intense price competition within the industry.

Operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $16.8 million compared to a
loss of $21.8 million in the same period last year. While interest expense
related to debt declined over 20% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, the
increase in Interest expense, net reflects a $1.5 million favorable impact from
foreign currency transaction gains in the fourth quarter of 2009. Loss per
diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $0.24 on a net loss of $11.8
million, compared to a loss of $0.28 per diluted share on a net loss of $13.6
million in the comparable 2009 period.

"The depth of our talent and resources positions us for strong growth in the
future as the macroeconomic environment gradually recovers to more normalized
levels. Specific to 2011, we believe that the recovery impact will be modest in
our industry given the lagging recovery of single family home values and the
ongoing conservative nature of real estate based lending. Despite these market
constraints, we believe that our continued investment in growth initiatives and
sound execution of our strategies will enable us to increase earnings to $1.27
to $1.35 per diluted share in 2011. This range includes our expectation that
sales growth will be in the low to mid-single digits and that positive leverage
of our infrastructure will result in strong contribution margins," said Perez de
la Mesa.

Pool Corporation is the largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and
related backyard products. Currently, POOL operates 291 sales centers in North
America and Europe, through which it distributes more than 160,000 national
brand and private label products to roughly 80,000 wholesale customers. For more
information about POOL, please visit www.poolcorp.com.

The Pool Corporation logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4853

This news release includes "forward-looking" statements that involve risk and
uncertainties that are generally identifiable through the use of words such as
"believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project" and similar
expressions and include projections of earnings. The forward-looking statements
in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or
revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as
they occur. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors,
including changes in the economy and the housing market, the sensitivity of our
business to weather conditions, our ability to maintain favorable relationships
with suppliers and manufacturers, competition from other leisure product
alternatives and mass merchants and other risks detailed in POOL's most recent
Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

POOL CORPORATION

Consolidated Statements of Income

(In thousands, except per share data)

Three Months Ended Year Ended

December 31, December 31,

----------------------
------------------------

2010 2009 2010 2009 (1)

---------- ---------- -----------
-----------

Net sales $ 241,426 $ 231,032 $ 1,613,746 $
1,539,794

Cost of sales 167,859 163,963 1,142,484
1,090,070
---------- ---------- -----------
-----------
Gross profit 73,567 67,069 471,262
449,724
Percent 30.5% 29.0% 29.2%
29.2%

Selling and administrative

expenses 90,350 88,845 370,017
361,284
---------- ---------- -----------
-----------
Operating income (loss) (16,783) (21,776) 101,245
88,440
Percent (7.0)% (9.4)% 6.3%
5.7%

Interest expense, net (2) 1,961 686 6,619
9,667
---------- ---------- -----------
-----------
Income before income taxes and

equity earnings (losses) (18,744) (22,462) 94,626
78,773
Provision for income taxes (6,951) (8,829) 37,093
30,957
Equity earnings (losses) in

unconsolidated investments,

net (12) 27 105
(28,614)
---------- ---------- -----------
-----------

Net income (loss) $ (11,805) $ (13,606) $ 57,638 $
19,202
========== ========== ===========
===========

Earnings (loss) per share:

Basic $ (0.24) $ (0.28) $ 1.17 $
0.39
========== ========== ===========
===========

Diluted $ (0.24) $ (0.28) $ 1.15 $
0.39
========== ========== ===========
===========
Weighted average shares

outstanding:

Basic 49,548 48,965 49,469
48,649
========== ========== ===========
===========

Diluted 49,548 48,965 50,161
49,049
========== ========== ===========
===========

Cash dividends declared per

common share $ 0.13 $ 0.13 $ 0.52 $
0.52

------------------------------

(1) Derived from audited financial statements.

(2) Interest expense, net includes realized foreign currency transaction

gains of $1.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009, $1.5

million for the year ended December 31, 2010 and $1.8 million for the
year
ended December 31, 2009.

POOL CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands)

December December
31, 31, Change

2010 2009 (1) $ %
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- -----

Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 9,721 $ 15,843 $ (6,122) (39)%
Receivables, net (2) 101,543 96,364 5,179 5
Product inventories, net (3) 347,439 355,528 (8,089) (2)
Prepaid expenses and other
current assets 7,678 12,901 (5,223) (40)

Deferred income taxes 10,211 10,681 (470)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (4)
Total current assets 476,592 491,317 (14,725) (3)

Property and equipment, net 30,685 31,432 (747) (2)
Goodwill 178,516 176,923 1,593 1
Other intangible assets, net 12,965 13,917 (952) (7)
Equity interest investments 966 1,006 (40) (4)

Other assets, net 28,821 28,504 317
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- 1

Total assets $ 728,545 $ 743,099 $ (14,554)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (2)%

Liabilities and stockholders'
equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 169,700 $ 178,391 $ (8,691) (5)%
Accrued expenses and other
current liabilities 41,704 33,886 7,818 23

Current portion of long-term
debt and other long-term
liabilities 134 48,236 (48,102)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (100)
Total current liabilities 211,538 260,513 (48,975) (19)

Deferred income taxes 25,593 21,920 3,673 17
Long-term debt 198,700 200,700 (2,000) (1)

Other long-term liabilities 7,532 7,779 (247)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (3)

Total liabilities 443,363 490,912 (47,549)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (10)

Total stockholders' equity 285,182 252,187 32,995
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- 13

Total liabilities and
stockholders' equity $ 728,545 $ 743,099 $ (14,554)
------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------- (2)%

(1) Derived from audited financial statements.
(2) The allowance for doubtful accounts was $7.1 million at
December 31, 2010 and $11.4 million at December 31, 2009.
(3) The inventory reserve was $7.1 million at December 31, 2010
and $7.8 million at December 31, 2009.

POOL CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)

Year Ended

December 31,
--------------------

2010 2009 (1) Change
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Operating activities
Net income $ 57,638 $ 19,202 $ 38,436
Adjustments to reconcile net income to
net cash provided by operating
activities:
Depreciation 8,980 9,091 (111)
Amortization 2,348 2,454 (106)
Share-based compensation 7,790 6,429 1,361
Excess tax benefits from share-based
compensation (1,877) (2,408) 531
Equity (earnings) losses in
unconsolidated investments (105) 30,036 (30,141)
Gain on foreign currency transactions (1,498) (1,846) 348
Goodwill impairment -- 310 (310)
Other (2,781) (2,869) 88
Changes in operating assets and
liabilities, net of effects of
acquisitions:
Receivables 4,832 25,441 (20,609)
Product inventories 15,951 56,676 (40,725)
Accounts payable (14,417) (1,815) (12,602)

Other current assets and liabilities 17,098 (27,451) 44,549
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net cash provided by operating activities 93,959 113,250 (19,291)

Investing activities
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash
acquired (6,173) (10,937) 4,764

Purchase of property and equipment, net
of sale proceeds (8,078) (7,168) (910)
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net cash used in investing activities (14,251) (18,105) 3,854

Financing activities
Proceeds from revolving line of credit 453,039 446,937 6,102
Payments on revolving line of credit (457,568) (499,237) 41,669
Proceeds from asset-backed financing -- 57,000 (57,000)
Payments on asset-backed financing -- (77,792) 77,792
Payments on long-term debt and other
long-term liabilities (48,225) (6,157) (42,068)
Payments of deferred acquisition
consideration (1,000) -- (1,000)
Payments of deferred financing costs (145) (305) 160
Excess tax benefits from share-based
compensation 1,877 2,408 (531)
Proceeds from stock issued under
share-based compensation plans 6,293 4,283 2,010
Payments of cash dividends (25,746) (25,310) (436)

Purchases of treasury stock (13,683) (1,171) (12,512)
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net cash used in financing activities (85,158) (99,344) 14,186

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
and cash equivalents (672) 4,280 (4,952)
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Change in cash and cash equivalents (6,122) 81 (6,203)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
period 15,843 15,762 81
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

Cash and cash equivalents at end of
period $ 9,721 $ 15,843 $ (6,122)
----------------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

(1) Derived from audited financial statements.

ADDENDUM

Base Business

The following table breaks out our consolidated results into the base business
component and the excluded components (sales centers excluded from base
business):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
(Unaudited) Base Business Excluded Total

Three Months

(In thousands) Three Months Ended Ended Three Months
Ended
December 31, December 31, December 31,

2010 2009 2010 2009 2010
2009
------------------- --------- --------- -------- ------- ---------
---------
Net sales $ 232,911 $ 224,587 $ 8,515 $ 6,445 $ 241,426 $
231,032

Gross profit 71,411 65,549 2,156 1,520 73,567
67,069
Gross margin 30.7% 29.2% 25.3% 23.6% 30.5%
29.0%

Operating expenses 87,029 85,948 3,321 2,897 90,350
88,845
Expenses as a % of

net sales 37.4% 38.3% 39.0% 44.9% 37.4%
38.5%

Operating loss (15,618) (20,399) (1,165) (1,377) (16,783)
(21,776)

Operating margin (6.7)% (9.1)% (13.7)% (21.4)% (7.0)%
(9.4)%
------------------- --------- --------- -------- ------- ---------
---------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
(Unaudited) Base Business Excluded
Total
(In thousands) Year Ended Year Ended
Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
December 31,

2010 2009 2010 2009 2010
2009
--------------------- ----------- ----------- -------- --------
----------- -----------
Net sales $ 1,555,647 $ 1,521,529 $ 58,099 $ 18,265 $
1,613,746 $ 1,539,794

Gross profit 456,400 445,300 14,862 4,424
471,262 449,724
Gross margin 29.3% 29.3% 25.6% 24.2%
29.2% 29.2%

Operating expenses 355,454 355,760 14,563 5,524
370,017 361,284
Expenses as a % of

net sales 22.8% 23.4% 25.1% 30.2%
22.9% 23.5%

Operating income

(loss) 100,946 89,540 299 (1,100)
101,245 88,440

Operating margin 6.5% 5.9% 0.5% (6.0)%
6.3% 5.7%
--------------------- ----------- ----------- -------- --------
----------- -----------

We have excluded the following acquisitions from base business for the periods
identified:

Net

Sales

Cente

rs

Acquisition Acquir
Periods
Acquired Date ed
Excluded
-------------------------------------- ------------------ ------
--------------------------
Turf Equipment Supply, Co. December 2010 3 December
2010
Pool Boat and Leisure, S.A. December 2010 1 December
2010
Les Produits de Piscine Metrinox April 2010 2
April--December 2010
General Pool & Spa Supply (GPS) (1) October 2009 7
January-December 2010 and

October-December 2009
Proplas Plasticos, S.L. (Proplas) November 2008 0
January-February 2010 and

January-February 2009

(1) We acquired 10 GPS sales centers and consolidated 3 of these with existing
sales centers
as of December 31, 2009.

We exclude the following sales centers from base business results for a period
of 15 months (parenthetical numbers for each category indicate the number of
sales centers excluded as of December 31, 2010):

-- acquired sales centers (see table above);
-- existing sales centers consolidated with acquired sales centers (3);
-- closed sales centers (0);
-- consolidated sales centers in cases where we do not expect to maintain
the majority of the existing business (0); and
-- sales centers opened in new markets (1).

We generally allocate corporate overhead expenses to excluded sales centers on
the basis of their net sales as a percentage of total net sales. After 15 months
of operations, we include acquired, consolidated and new market sales centers in
the base business calculation including the comparative prior year period.

The table below summarizes the changes in our sales centers in 2010:

December 31, 2009 287
Acquired 6
New locations (1) 3

Consolidated (5)
---

December 31, 2010 291
===

(1) Includes two new sales
center locations and one
existing centralized
shipping location warehouse
converted into a sales
center location.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Earnings (Loss) Per Share

The table below reconciles net income (loss) to adjusted net income (loss), and
earnings (loss) per diluted share to adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share.
For comparability purposes, the adjusted 2009 amount excludes a one-time
non-cash charge related to our former investment in LAC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
(Unaudited) Three Months Ended Year Ended

(In thousands, except per share data) December 31, December
31,

2010 2009 2010
2009
-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- --------
--------
Net income (loss) $ (11,805) $ (13,606) $ 57,638 $
19,202
Add:

Equity loss related to LAC's

impairment charge -- -- -- $
26,472
-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- --------
--------

Adjusted net income (loss) $ (11,805) $ (13,606) $ 57,638 $
45,674
-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- --------
--------

Earnings (loss) per diluted share $ (0.24) $ (0.28) $ 1.15 $
0.39
Add:

Loss per diluted share related to

LAC's impairment charge -- -- --
0.54
-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- --------
--------

Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted

share $ (0.24) $ (0.28) $ 1.15 $
0.93
-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- --------
--------

Adjusted EBITDA

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income or net loss plus interest expense,
income taxes, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, goodwill and
other non-cash impairments and equity earnings or losses in unconsolidated
investments, net of income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of cash flow
or liquidity as determined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
We have included Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental disclosure because we believe
that it is widely used by our investors, industry analysts and others as a
useful supplemental liquidity measure in conjunction with cash flows provided by
or used in operating activities to help investors understand our ability to
provide cash flows to fund growth, service debt and pay dividends as well as
compare our cash flow generating capacity from year to year.

We believe Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, not as a
substitute for, operating income or loss, net income or loss, cash flows
provided by or used in operating, investing and financing activities or other
income statement or cash flow statement line items reported in accordance with
GAAP. Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do,
which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.

The table below presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA.

-----------------------------------------------
Year Ended December
(Unaudited) 31,

(In thousands) 2010 2009
------------------------- --------- ---------
Net income $ 57,638 $ 19,202
Add:
Interest expense (1) 8,117 11,513
Provision for income
taxes 37,093 30,957
Share-based
compensation 7,790 6,429
Goodwill impairment -- 310
Equity (earnings)
losses in
unconsolidated
investments, net of
tax (2) (105) 28,614
Depreciation 8,980 9,091

Amortization (3) 1,856 1,787
------------------------- --------- ---------

Adjusted EBITDA $ 121,369 $ 107,903
------------------------- --------- ---------

(1) Shown net of interest income and
includes amortization of deferred
financing costs as discussed below.
(2) Tax related to our equity losses is
disclosed in the table below as Income
tax benefit on equity losses.
(3) Excludes amortization of deferred
financing costs of $492 for 2010 and $667
for 2009. This non-cash expense is
included in Interest expense, net on the
Consolidated Statements of Income.

The table below presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net cash
provided by operating activities. Please see page 5 for our Condensed
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Year Ended December
(Unaudited) 31,

(In thousands) 2010 2009
--------------------------------------- --------- ---------
Adjusted EBITDA $ 121,369 $ 107,903
Add:
Interest expense, net of interest
income (7,625) (10,846)
Provision for income taxes (37,093) (30,957)
Foreign currency transaction gains (1,498) (1,846)
Income tax benefit on equity
losses -- 1,422
Excess tax benefits on share-based
compensation (1,877) (2,408)
Other (2,781) (2,869)

Change in operating assets and
liabilities 23,464 52,851
--------------------------------------- --------- ---------

Net cash provided by operating
activities $ 93,959 $ 113,250
--------------------------------------- --------- ---------

CONTACT: Craig K. Hubbard
985.801.5117
craig.hubbard@poolcorp.com