HVAC distributor Watsco Inc. and manufacturer Carrier Corp., a unit of United Technologies Corp., are moving forward with their plans to form a joint venture that will distribute Carrier, Bryant and Payne products throughout the U.S. Sunbelt, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 related to the joint venture.
Watsco and Carrier’s joint venture will be named Carrier Enterprises LLC. The venture will operate 110 locations in 20 states and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America and serve more than 19,000 air conditioning and heating contractors.
Carrier will contribute 95 locations in the U.S. Sunbelt and …
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Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced national HVACR distributor sales for the month of March 2009 were (at median) down 10.8% when compared to March 2008 in its Monthly Targeted and Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies Report. The HARDI West Region posted the steepest decline of 32.7%. However, three Regions reported sales gains in March – Southwest (+15.7%), Great Lakes (+3.6%) and Canada (+0.6%).
By sales volume, only the small firm category ($5 million or less) posted a sales gain for March at +11%. Median Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) stood at 52.43 days up 1.2 days from February 2009.
For more information about HARDI’s Monthly TRENDS Reports, including access to the complete …
Watsco, Inc., Miami, FL, reported first quarter sales of $291 million, a decline of 23% over 2008. The independent distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration products recorded a loss of $1.2 million for the period, compared to profit of $7.6 million the prior year.
The economic environment continued to take its toll on the seasonally slower first quarter. We are pleased with the continued improvement in sales mix of more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products in this current market environment, said Albert H. Nahmad, president and CEO. “We anticipate this trend will continue as we move into the replacement season during the summer months."
Sales results were impacted by the economic environment, especially …
Wholesale prices fell 1.2% in March, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. This decline followed a 0.1% advance in February and a 0.8% increase in January.
At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers of intermediate goods fell 1.5% after decreasing 0.9% a month earlier, and the crude goods index declined 0.3% following a 4.5-percent drop in February.
Among finished goods, the index for energy goods turned down 5.5% in March after rising 1.3% in the preceding month. Prices for finished consumer goods less foods and energy inched up 0.1% following a 0.4-percent advance in February. The capital equipment index fell 0.2% in March after moving up 0.1% in the prior month. …
WinWholesale Inc., Dayton, OH, has opened St. Jacob Winwater Works Co. in St. Jacob, IL, to provide general, utility and municipal contractors in Southern Illinois with waterworks, sanitary sewer and storm sewer supplies.
The company, which has local ownership, has counter sales and delivery service. It carries a complete line of products such as Clow ductile iron pipe, Kennedy hydrants and valves, A.Y. McDonald brass, and Tyler fittings.
Don Brinker, a 14-year veteran of the waterworks wholesaling business in Southern Illinois, is president of the new company.
WinWholesale Inc. is a supplier of domestic and industrial supplies and materials with more than 470 wholesaling corporations in which WinWholesale is an equity partner, and also …
Acknowledging press reports in recent months, UK-based building materials and plumbing/HVAC distributor Wolseley plc has confirmed that it has held "discussions to consider the merits of an issue of new equity."
"Any decisions will be communicated to shareholders through the appropriate channels at the appropriate time," Wolseley said in a press release.
London’s Financial Times reported this week that hopes were high that Wolseley would unveil a 1.2 billion pounds rights issue (roughly US$1.5 billion).
Wolseley continues to be burdened by high debt levels. It recently announced its net debt had grown to 3 billion pounds (US$3.7 …
Global distributor Bunzl plc reported sales for 2008 were £4.18 billion (US$6.04 billion), an increase of 17% over 2007 sales. Profit improved 9.3% to £142.2 million (US$206.7 million).
Sales in North America increased 12% due to stronger organic growth and a strengthened American dollar in the second half of the year. Acquisitions drove sales in the U.K. and Ireland up 11%. Sales in continental Europe grew 34%.
The Group once again had a successful year in 2008 due to a combination of organic growth, the positive acquisition impact in both new and existing geographies and the benefit of currency translation, Chief Executive Michael Roney said. Bunzl continued to expand its presence in target markets in 2008, including Brazil and …
Watsco Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration products, reported sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, were $1.7 billion, a 3% decrease from last year.
On a same-store basis, sales were down 10%, reflecting a 10% decline in sales of HVAC equipment (44% of sales), an 11% decline in sales in other HVAC products (43% of sales) and a 5% decline in sales of commercial refrigeration products (13% of sales).
Sales results also reflect an improving revenue mix of high-efficiency and environmentally-sensitive air conditioning and heating systems. From an end-market point of view, results include flat sales to the residential replacement market, a single-digit decline in the commercial market and a sharp decrease in sales to …
Rexnord LLC, Milwaukee, WI, a diversified industrial company focused on power transmission and water management products, reported third quarter sales of $443 million, a decline of 1% from the prior year. The company recorded a quarterly loss of $355 million. Core sales contracted 2%.
Third quarter power transmission sales declined 6% from the prior year third quarter to $316 million. Core sales were flat.
Water management third quarter sales were $128 million, an increase of 11%. Core sales declined 6%.
In response to economic conditions, Rexnord took actions during the third quarter to reduce its cost structure. Headcount was reduced by 500 employees, 7% of the employee base, and will be reduced by an additional 7% in the fourth quarter. …
National HVACR distributor sales for the month of December 2008 were down 0.3% below December 2007, according to the Monthly Targeted and Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies Report produced by Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International.
The HARDI Central Region posted the best sales gain at 7% with Canada at 5.2%. Great Lakes Region failed to benefit from the onset of winter and experienced a 3.7% sales decline from December last year.
The Southwestern Region reported the poorest performance with a sales decline of 13.7%. The West, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions experienced sales declines when compared to same month last year. Median Days Sales Outstanding stood at 46.85 down almost 2 days from November 2008. …
Pentair, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, reported fourth quarter sales decreased 5% to $768 million, compared with $807 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. Profit declined 90.5% to $4.6 million, primarily a result of losses on disposal of discontinued operations.
For 2008, sales were $3.35 billion, up 2.2% from 2007. Profit increased 8.4% to $229 million.
Through the first three quarters of 2008, a period when we met or exceeded our financial outlook, we recognized the global economy was slowing and we began taking aggressive cost reduction actions, CEO Randall J. Hogan said. “However, as we exited the third quarter, the speed and magnitude of the economic deterioration increased dramatically. This caused us to miss our original fourth quarter …
UK-based global plumbing and building materials distributor reported revenues were up 3% for the first five months ended Dec. 31, 2008. The distributor’s half-year results will be announced March 23.
Profit fell 45%.
We continue to act decisively and rapidly in response to the unprecedented market conditions we face, said Chip Hornsby, CEO. Our attention and efforts remain resolutely focused on achieving compliance with our banking covenants, without losing sight that to generate shareholder value we must seek to ensure the business is well positioned to benefit when the markets in which we operate begin to recover. In the meantime, and against this background of declining macro economic activity we continue to implement the actions required to …
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.
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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. …
National HVACR distributor sales for the month of November 2008 were down 14.1% from a year ago, according to the Monthly Targeted and Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies Report produced by Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International.
All eight HARDI regional reports indicated negative performance in November. Over the previous twelve months, U.S. and Canadian wholesale sales were collectively even with 2007.
The Western region reported the poorest performance with a sales decline of 31%. The West region was also the only region to report that inventories were down when compared to same month last year. Median Days Sales Outstanding stood at 48.8 days up a half -day from October …
Piping distributor ISCO Industries, Louisville, KY, has acquired Wright Water & Waste, Solon, OH, according to the Courier-Journal in Louisville.
The founder of Wright Water & Waste will become ISCO’s national director of …
National distributor sales of HVACR products for October were down 0.8% from a year ago, according to the Monthly Targeted and Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies Report, produced by Heating, Airconditioning and Refirigeration Distributors International.
Among the eight HARDI regional reports, four in colder climates reported positive sales while four reported sales declines for the month. Over the previous twelve months, U.S. and Canadian wholesale sales were collectively up +0.2%.
Canada experienced the best performance for October with sales up 9.4%, while the Western region reported the poorest performance, down 11.1%. Only the Midwest region reported a decline in inventory level; all others indicated inventories were up. …
UK-based Wolseley plc, distributor of plumbing and heating products and building materials, reported group sales for the three months ended Oct. 31, 2008, were up 2% from the same period a year ago. Profit was down about 30%.
Results continue to be impacted by the events in the financial markets and weakness in the housing markets. The decline in profit was primarily due to lower profitability in Stock Building Supply and Wolseley UK.
While these results reflect a further deterioration in the business environment in the first quarter it was not unexpected, and, we continue to react swiftly to market conditions with aggressive but measured cost reduction,”said Chip Hornsby, group chief executive. “In these unprecedented circumstances, the key priorities remain …
Cummins-Wagner Co., Inc., Annapolis Junction, MD, a distributor of industrial process equipment and HVAC equipment in the Mid-Atlantic region, has acquired Rochester, NY-based Siewert Equipment Co. and Siewert Classic Co.
The acquisition is part of Cummins-Wagner’s business strategy of steady, manageable growth through market penetration and acquisition. SECO employs 47 people with branch offices in New York State and Florida. SECO is a distributor/manufacturers representative in the sales of fluid process equipment and provides assembly, aftermarket service and engineered solutions.
SECO employees will become part of Cummins-Wagner’s 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
Cummins-Wagner employs 115 …
HVAC distributor Watsco Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, sales in the third quarter were $475 million, down 12% on a same-store basis. Sales results include higher pricing and an improved sales mix of higher-efficiency air conditioning equipment and lower unit volume from cooler summer temperatures in certain markets. Sales were also hit by low housing starts. Profit was $23.3 million.
Sales in the first nine months were $1.37 billion, down 9% on a same-store basis. The results reflect a 9% decline in sales of HVAC equipment, an 11% decline in sales in other HVAC products and a 3% decline in sales of commercial refrigeration products. Profit was $57 million.
Watsco’s performance and ability to respond to overall market conditions matched with the strength of our …
