January 2009

Avnet Sales Down in 2Q

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Electrical, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Avnet, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, reported sales of $4.27 billion for second quarter fiscal 2009 ended Dec. 27, 2008, a decrease of 10.2% over second quarter fiscal 2008. Excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, sales were down 6.4% for the quarter. Organic sales were down 14.9%.

Profit was $112.3 million, down 21% from the prior year quarter.

"Our second fiscal quarter was unusually challenging as demand weakened through the quarter culminating with lower-than-expected revenue in the month of December, CEO Roy Vallee said. This slowdown was widespread as all three regions and both operating groups contributed to a double digit year-over-year organic revenue decline for the quarter.

"Based on these ...

Avnet Sales Down in 2Q Read More »

Columbus McKinnon 3Q Sales Up 12.9%

Leave a Comment / Free, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Pharmaceutical & Health Care, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Columbus McKinnon Corp., Amherst, NY, designer, manufacturer and marketer of material handling products, reported sales of $165.1 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 ended Dec. 28, 2008, up 12.9% over the prior-year same period. Profit was down 61.8% to $3.8 million.

Reported quarterly results include the acquisition of Pfaff-silberblau that closed on Oct. 1, 2008. One-time accounting adjustments related to the acquisition, higher material costs, lower sales volume of the higher margin pre-Pfaff businesses, and restructuring charges affected fiscal 2009 third quarter income from operations.

Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 were $470.9 million, up 8.9% compared with the first nine months of fiscal 2008 and up 2.7% excluding the Pfaff ...

Columbus McKinnon 3Q Sales Up 12.9% Read More »

Housing Starts Down 33.3% in 2008

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Building Materials/Construction, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

U.S. housing starts in December were down 15.5% from November, and 45% below December 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Privately-owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000 in December.

Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 398,000; this is 13.5% below the November figure. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 145,000.

An estimated 904,300 housing units were started in 2008. This is 33.3% below the 2007 figure of 1,355,000.

By region, the Northeast saw a 15.4% drop in housing starts in 2008, Midwest had a 35.7% decline, the South a 33.5% fall, and the West was down ...

Housing Starts Down 33.3% in 2008 Read More »

AMETEK Acquires High Standard Aviation

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Electrical, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

AMETEK, Inc., Paoli, PA, acquired High Standard Aviation, a Miami, FL-based provider of electrical/electromechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic repair services to the aerospace industry. The privately held High Standard Aviation has annual sales of approximately $31 million.

The acquisition broadens AMETEK's position in the aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul market, and provides a presence in Miami. High Standard Aviation will become a unit of AMETEK Aerospace & Defense.

AMETEK is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with annualized sales of $2.5 ...

AMETEK Acquires High Standard Aviation Read More »

Sysco CEO Announces Retirement

Leave a Comment / Free, Grocery & Foodservice Distribution, Strategy, Management, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

The CEO of Sysco Corp., Houston, TX, Richard J. Schnieders, has announced his plan to retire on June 27, 2009, the end of Sysco's 2009 fiscal year. Schnieders will continue as chairman of the board subsequent to stepping down as CEO on March 31. He joined Sysco in 1982, serving as CEO since 2003.

Bill DeLaney, Sysco's executive vice president and chief financial officer, will become CEO. Delaney will continue to act as CFO until his replacement is chosen. In addition, Ken Spitler, Sysco's president and chief operating officer, has been promoted to vice chairman of the board of directors and will continue in his current responsibilities.

DeLaney has been with Sysco since 1987, and has served in his current position since 2007. Spitler joined Sysco in 1986 and was ...

Sysco CEO Announces Retirement Read More »

Canadian Manufacturing Sales Fall in November

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Source: Statistics Canada

Canadian manufacturing sales decreased for a fourth consecutive month in November. Sales fell 6.4% to $48.4 billion, the lowest level since December 2004.

Constant dollar manufacturing sales, which are measured in 2002 prices, fell to their lowest level in almost 10 years, decreasing by 3.0% in November. Therefore, about half of the drop in the current dollar series compared with October reflected price declines. The most significant price decreases were in the petroleum and coal industry (-18.5%) and primary metal industry (-6%).

At the industry level, sales in 12 of 21 manufacturing industries decreased in November, accounting for over four-fifths of ...

Canadian Manufacturing Sales Fall in November Read More »

Options Outside of Standard Downsizing to Bolster Profits

Leave a Comment / Research & Analytics, Free, Strategy, Management, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

Long-time industry consultant Bruce Merrifield addresses profitability in a recent post to his Web site. He says that companies have options outside of traditional downsizing moves to boost performance in these tough times.

He asks: How do we carefully: either sculpt away our corporate bloat (losing customers, products, people); or, redeploy losing-activity resources into revitalizing the ripped, profitable athlete that is hiding within the general average numbers?"

Toward the end of his post, found here, he recommends:

Identifying the "super-loser" accounts that are in best ...

Options Outside of Standard Downsizing to Bolster Profits Read More »

Praxair Completes 15 Acquisitions In 2008

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Gases & Welding Equipment, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Praxair Distribution, Inc., Danbury, CT, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., completed 15 acquisitions in 2008 with sales totaling nearly $90 million, including five acquisitions made during the fourth quarter.

Our acquisition program over the past two years has been very successful and remains an important part of our overall growth strategy, said George Ristevski, president of Praxair Distribution. "We have acquired 26 companies with sales exceeding $350 million since 2007 and remain committed to acquiring selected, high-quality distribution businesses. We have many active projects in the pipeline that meet our strict return criteria."

Praxair Distribution, with sales of $1.7 billion, supplies a comprehensive range of industrial, specialty ...

Praxair Completes 15 Acquisitions In 2008 Read More »

Distributors Feel Dismal 2008 Auto Sales

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, Subscriber Only / Tom Gale

General Motors and Toyota both announced 2008 vehicle sales this week. General Motors said vehicle sales dropped 11% in 2008, with a 21% drop in North America and a 6.5% drop in Europe. Toyota saw its global sales drop about 5%. Distributors are feeling the ripple effect from automotive supplier customers far, wide and deep.

Automotive supplier musical chairs is in full effect from a distribution perspective. If your customer plant is still running, it might even be increasing production as work is shifted from other operations, now shut down.

As some automotive suppliers struggle and go under, some distributors are seeing tooling and production work shifted to other suppliers, again with some increase in business on that end. But the good news in January is ...

Distributors Feel Dismal 2008 Auto Sales Read More »

Venture Tape To Buy Compac’s Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Venture Tape Corp., a subsidiary of St. Paul, MN-based 3M, has agreed to acquire the pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape assets of Compac Corp. from Lamtec Corp. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TriMas Corp., the parent company of Hackettstown, NJ-based Compac, recently agreed to sell Compac to Lamtec. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009. Upon completion of this transaction, all Compac PSA tape products will be supplied from Venture Tape Corp. Compac products primarily are used in the heating, ventilation and air condition, insulation, and industrial markets.

Venture Tape manufactures a broad range of tapes used in construction, oil and gas, HVAC, electronics, aerospace, marine and appliance markets. It ...

Venture Tape To Buy Compac’s Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Read More »

Precision Castparts 3Q Sales Down 3.2%

Leave a Comment / Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Fasteners, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, OR, reported sales for the third quarter were $1.6 billion, a decline of 3.2% over the prior year period. Profit was $239.1 million, down 3%.

Current quarter sales were significantly impacted by the lengthy Boeing strike and flattening demand in the casting and forging aerospace businesses. PCC completed three acquisitions in the quarter.

For the first nine months ended Dec. 28, 2008, sales improved 4.8% to $5.2 billion, compared to the first nine months of fiscal year 2008. Profit for the period increased 10.7% to $784.2 million.

Investment Cast Products
Segment sales increased slightly to $541.5 million in the third quarter, versus $540.9 million for the same period the prior year. Contractual material ...

Precision Castparts 3Q Sales Down 3.2% Read More »

Report: Wolseley Seeks Cash Infusion

Leave a Comment / Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution, Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Building Materials/Construction, HVACR, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

A report from the Sunday Times in England says that global building materials and plumbing distributor Wolseley plc is in talks with investors and private equity groups to raise possibly more than $500 million (converted from British pounds) in what the paper calls a rescue fundraising.

According to the article, a final decision on how much cash is required and whether they will move forward on this will be made in the next three weeks before the end of its financial half year. The distributor will report results next week.

Here is the article.

Report: Wolseley Seeks Cash Infusion Read More »

Parker Hannifin 2Q Sales, Profit Down

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Parker Hannifin, Cleveland, OH, reported sales of $2.7 billion for fiscal 2009 second quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008, a decline of 5% from the same quarter a year ago. Profit declined 26.7% to $155.4 million.

"Current quarter results reflect the fact that the global recession has deepened and widened in recent months and creates some uncertainty for the remainder of our fiscal year and throughout calendar 2009," said Don Washkewicz, president and CEO.

Segment Results
In the Industrial North America segment, second-quarter sales increased slightly to $993 million, and operating income declined 24% to $107.6 million, compared with the same period a year ago.

In the Industrial International segment, second-quarter sales declined ...

Parker Hannifin 2Q Sales, Profit Down Read More »

Fastenal Sales Up 13.5% in 2008

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Building Materials/Construction, Fasteners, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, reported sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, were $2.34 billion, an increase of 13.5% from the prior year. Profit was up to $279.7 million, an increase of 20.2%.

In 2008, Fastenal opened 161 new stores, an increase of 7.5%.

Although the distributor had overall growth, its same-store sales saw a slowdown in the last three months of the year.

In the fourth quarter, Fastenal reported sales of $544.9 million, up 5% over the prior-year period. Profit increased 11.3% to $62.5 million.

More details on Fastenal's year-end results in the Fastenal report

Fastenal Sales Up 13.5% in 2008 Read More »

Aviation, Power & Marine Acquired By Private Equity Firm

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Electrical, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Aviation, Power & Marine, Inc., a Boynton Beach, FL-based distributor of aeroderivative gas turbine engine parts and related services, has been acquired by private equity firm Pfingsten Partners, L.L.C., Deerfield, IL. AP&M provides parts and services to a variety of end markets: electrical utility and power generation, naval and commercial marine propulsion, heavy industrial manufacturing, and oil and gas exploration and transmission. AP&M also coordinates gas turbine engine leases and component repair services.

Pfingsten plans to grow the business though expansion into new engine types and brands, domestic and international expansion, increased leased engine placements, and greater penetration of existing market segments.

Under the terms of ...

Aviation, Power & Marine Acquired By Private Equity Firm Read More »

Industrial Production Falls 2% in December

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Industrial production fell 2% in December, and declines were again widespread. Output was revised up in October, but it was revised down in November; for the fourth quarter as a whole, total industrial production decreased 11.5% at an annual rate.

At 103.6% of its 2002 average, output in December was 7.8% below its year-earlier level. In December, manufacturing production dropped 2.3%.

The output of mines moved down 1.6%, and the output of electric and gas utilities was little changed. Capacity utilization for total industry fell to 73.6% in December, a level 7.4 percentage points below its average level from 1972 to 2007.

More details ...

Industrial Production Falls 2% in December Read More »

MSC Case Illustrates Complexities in Doing Business with Government

Leave a Comment / Free, Operations, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Facilities Maintenance (MRO), Legal Issues in Wholesale Distribution, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

The Melville, NY-based distributor of metalworking and MRO supplies, MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc., is facing an audit by the General Services Administration related to government sales and compliance with the Trade Agreements Act. According to an SEC filing of its quarterly results, "the U.S. Department of Justice has advised the company that GSA OIG's audit identified non-compliant sales and potential liability arising therefrom." MSC reported however that it does not anticipate its potential liability, if any, to have "any material adverse effect on the company's consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity."

And that's all we know. MSC is one of many companies that do business with the government, which has stringent rules ...

MSC Case Illustrates Complexities in Doing Business with Government Read More »

Rexnord Agrees to Acquire Fontaine-Alliance

Leave a Comment / Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, HVACR, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Rexnord LLC, Milwaukke, WI, announced that Zurn Industries, LLC, its wholly owned water management subsidiary, has agreed to acquire Fontaine-Alliance Inc. for CAD30 million.

Fontaine manufactures sluice gates and other engineered flow control products for the municipal water and wastewater markets. Fontaine is based in Magog, Quebec, Canada.Fontaine employs 185 employees with annual sales of CAD40 million.

Fontaine will expand Rexnord's strategic water management platform, which was created with the company's acquisition of Zurn in February 2007.

Rexnord is a diversified industrial company with two key platforms: Power Transmission and Water Management. ...

Rexnord Agrees to Acquire Fontaine-Alliance Read More »

ERIKS Group Sales Up 19.3% For 2008

Leave a Comment / Free, Top Distributor Sectors, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Dutch holding company the ERIKS group reported sales of €1.132 billion (US$1.48 billion at the current exchange rate), an increase of 19.3% over sales for 2007. The total sales meets the expectations announced by the group in November.

Organic growth contributed €42 million (US$54.9 million) to growth in 2008; acquisitions in 2007 and 2008 added €208 million (US$272 million).

Industrial activity further decreased in the fourth quarter of 2008, with many customers reducing their production capacity. This resulted in organic growth of -1.4% for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Sales in the ‘semicon,' automotive, steel, and suppliers to construction industry were negatively impacted by the economic crisis. However, sales ...

ERIKS Group Sales Up 19.3% For 2008 Read More »

Wholesale Prices Fall 1.9% in December

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Free, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Wholesale prices fell 1.9 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. This decrease followed a 2.2-percent decline in November and a 2.8-percent drop in October.

At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers of intermediate goods fell 4.2 percent in December after decreasing 4.3 percent in the prior month, and the crude goods index declined 5.3 percent following a 12.5-percent drop in November. The slower rate of decrease in finished goods prices was led by the index for energy goods, which fell 9.3 percent in December after declining 11.2 percent in November.

Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy (core inflation) rose 0.2 percent in December compared ...

Wholesale Prices Fall 1.9% in December Read More »

January 2009

Avnet Sales Down in 2Q

Columbus McKinnon 3Q Sales Up 12.9%

Housing Starts Down 33.3% in 2008

AMETEK Acquires High Standard Aviation

Sysco CEO Announces Retirement

Canadian Manufacturing Sales Fall in November

Options Outside of Standard Downsizing to Bolster Profits

Praxair Completes 15 Acquisitions In 2008

Distributors Feel Dismal 2008 Auto Sales

Venture Tape To Buy Compac’s Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Precision Castparts 3Q Sales Down 3.2%

Report: Wolseley Seeks Cash Infusion

Parker Hannifin 2Q Sales, Profit Down

Fastenal Sales Up 13.5% in 2008

Aviation, Power & Marine Acquired By Private Equity Firm

Industrial Production Falls 2% in December

MSC Case Illustrates Complexities in Doing Business with Government

Rexnord Agrees to Acquire Fontaine-Alliance

ERIKS Group Sales Up 19.3% For 2008

Wholesale Prices Fall 1.9% in December

Register for full access

Learn More about Custom Reports

Request a Market Prospector Demo

Get the MDM Update Newsletter