Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq:CASY) yesterday reported results for the second quarter ended October 31, 2000 and for the fiscal year to date. Basic earnings for the quarter were $0.28 per share, up 16.7% from those for the same quarter of the prior year; year to date, basic earnings came to $0.60 per share, an increase of 15.4%. Chairman Donald F. Lamberti said, “Our second quarter was a good one despite the impact of high gasoline prices on sales overall.”

“In its 2000 annual report, the Company published four performance goals for fiscal year 2001. The first is to increase gasoline gallons sold 10-12% with an average margin of 10.5 cents per gallon. In the second quarter Casey’s sold 203.6 million gallons of gasoline, a 3% increase, at an average margin of 11.7 cents; year to date the Company sold 415.3 million gallons, a 5.7% increase, at an average margin of 12.4 cents. President & CEO Ronald M. Lamb gave this perspective: “High gas prices reduced demand, an occurrence throughout the industry, but our margins more than compensated.” Gasoline gross profit was up 21.9% to $23.9 million for the second quarter and up 32.7% to $51.6 million for the year to date.

The second annual goal is to increase inside (nongas) sales 15%; the third is to increase the average margin on inside sales 100 basis points to 38.7%. Inside sales were up 11.3% for the quarter and up 13.4% for the year to date. The second-quarter average margin was 40.3%; the year-to-date average margin was 39.3%. Lamb explained, “Inside sales were adversely affected by the reduced demand for gasoline, but growth in our prepared food & fountain category contributed to improvement in average margin. Prepared food & fountain grew faster than either our gasoline or grocery & other merchandise categories.”

The fourth annual goal is to keep operating expenses under 14% of sales. Operating expenses came to 13.1% of sales for the second quarter and to 12.6% for the year to date. “Though midyear operating expenses were below 14% of sales, keeping expenses in check will be an ongoing challenge,” said Lamb, “especially if wages and bank charges continue to rise.” Year to date, wages were up 18.7% and bank charges resulting from customers’ credit card use were up 43.7%.

The Company is on target for reaching its two-year goal of adding 180 corporate stores from both new construction and franchise purchases. In the first half of fiscal year 2001, Casey’s built 32 stores and purchased 19 franchise stores.

“Expansion is obviously one means of increasing sales,” said Lamberti, “but so is using the lure of electronics to draw customers inside our existing stores.” Casey’s is in the process of installing video advertising systems at the gasoline pump stands of 300 stores and testing Internet kiosks in 10 locations. The Company currently has ATMs in 383 stores and expects to increase that number to 800 stores by next summer.

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At its meeting held November 28, 2000, the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share. The dividend will be paid February 15, 2001 to shareholders of record on February 1, 2001.

                     Casey's General Stores, Inc.
                   Consolidated Statements of Income
           (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

                               3 months ended       6 months ended
                                 October 31,          October 31,
                                2000     1999       2000      1999
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------

Net sales                     $495,708 $412,752  $1,024,599 $799,946
Franchise revenue                  981    1,431       2,126    2,945
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------
Total revenue                 $496,689 $414,183  $1,026,725 $802,891
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------

Cost of goods sold            $396,570 $327,769  $  824,632 $630,471
Operating expenses              64,890   54,857     128,782  106,437
Depreciation and
     amortization               10,321    9,406      20,392   18,501
Interest, net                    2,890    1,988       5,861    3,990
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------
                              $474,671 $394,020  $  979,667 $759,399
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------
Income before income taxes    $ 22,018 $ 20,163  $   47,058 $ 43,492
Federal and state income
     taxes                       8,190    7,501      17,505   16,179
                              -------- --------  ---------- --------
Net income                    $ 13,828 $ 12,662  $   29,553 $ 27,313
                              ======== ========  ========== ========

Basic earnings per share      $    .28 $    .24  $      .60 $    .52
Weighted average shares
     outstanding              $ 49,471   52,737      49,462   52,728

Diluted earnings per share    $    .28 $    .24  $      .60 $    .52
Weighted average shares
     outstanding                49,630   52,973      49,599   52,976



                     Casey's General Stores, Inc.
                      Consolidated Balance Sheets
                        (Dollars in thousands)

                                                   Oct. 31,  April 30,
                                                    2000       2000
                                                  ---------  ---------
Assets
Current assets
     Cash and cash equivalents                    $ 18,418   $ 15,917
     Short-term investments                         30,361      7,925
     Receivables                                     4,155      4,111
     Inventories                                    55,410     41,363
     Prepaid expenses                                6,200      5,745
                                                  ---------  ---------
Total current assets                              $114,544   $ 75,061
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Long-term investments                             $  7,542   $ ------

Other assets, net of amortization                    1,479      1,513
Property and equipment, net of
     accumulated depreciation
     October 31, 2000 $265,042                     572,520    546,991
     April 30, 2000 $245,858
                                                  ---------  ---------
Total assets                                      $696,085   $623,565
======================================================================

Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
Current liabilities
     Notes payable                                $  3,400   $ 45,950
     Current maturities of long-term debt            9,765      9,703
     Accounts payable                               59,515     60,959
     Accrued expenses                               25,059     21,948
     Income taxes payable                            7,075      2,091
                                                  ---------  ---------
Total current liabilities                         $104,814   $140,651
----------------------------------------------------------------------

     Long-term debt, net of
        current maturities                        $189,921   $112,896
     Deferred income taxes                          60,650     57,650
     Deferred compensation                           3,908      3,606
                                                  ---------  ---------
Total liabilities                                 $359,293   $314,803
                                                  ---------  ---------

Total shareholders' equity                         336,792    308,762

                                                  ---------  ---------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity        $696,085   $623,565
======================================================================


Certain statements in this news release, including any discussion of
management expectations for future periods, constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other
factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from future
results expressed or implied by those statements. Casey's disclaims
any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Sales and Gross Profit by Product
                        (Dollars in thousands)

                               Grocery   Prepared
Six months ended               & other    food &
10/31/00          Gasoline  merchandise  fountain   Other      Total

Sales             $618,060    $285,278    $72,919  $48,342  $1,024,599
Gross profit      $ 51,569    $ 99,192    $41,640  $ 7,566  $  199,967
Margin                8.3%       34.8%      57.1%    15.7%       19.5%

Six months ended
10/31/99

Sales             $434,687    $252,090    $63,725  $49,444  $  799,946
Gross profit      $ 38,858    $ 86,077    $36,351  $ 8,189  $  169,475
Margin                8.9%       34.1%      57.0%    16.6%       21.2%
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Diluted Earnings per Share

      1st Quarter  2nd Quarter  3rd Quarter  4th Quarter        Year
1996        $0.15        $0.17        $0.13        $0.06       $0.51
1997         0.17         0.17         0.10         0.07        0.51
1998         0.20         0.21         0.14         0.09        0.64
1999         0.24         0.24         0.17         0.12        0.76
2000         0.28         0.24         0.10         0.14        0.76
2001         0.32         0.28
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Gasoline Operations
                    (In thousands, except margins)

                Six months ended                Fiscal year
               10/31/00  10/31/99    2000     1999      1998     1997
Gallons sold   415,316   393,079   783,250  692,770   608,977  542,610
Margin per
   gallon       $0.124   $ 0.099   $ 0.098  $ 0.105  $  0.106  $ 0.102
Gross profit   $51,569   $38,858   $77,080  $72,949  $ 64,795  $55,183
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Same Store Sales Growth
               (Stores open for at least one full year)

                 Six months ended                        Fiscal Year
                         10/31/00    2000     1999     1998     1997
Gas gallons sold            -3.6%     3.5%     6.3%     3.0%    1.6%
Grocery & other
   merchandise               2.7%    14.5%     9.0%     2.7%    3.5%
Prepared food &
   fountain                  2.9%    -0.1%     3.7%    11.3%    9.6%
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Corporate information is available at this web site: http://www.caseys.com