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Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Wolseley CEO Chip Hornsby sat down with MDM recently to talk about the distributor’s market moves, its localized strategy, the current housing market and the importance of leadership training. Hornsby also addressed the $25-billion global distributor’s potential expansion into new but complementary sectors, which should slow while the company digests the acquisitions it has made in the past 18 months.
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Wolseley is the parent company of Stock Building Supply and HVAC/plumbing distributor Ferguson in the U.S. The second part of this interview, focused on Wolseley’s European ambitions, will be in the March 10 issue of MDM.
MDM: What are the key issues for Wolseley in North America to develop markets in terms of services, product mix, …
Release taken from Statistics Canada
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Wholesalers ended the year on a high note, with the automotive sector providing much of the impetus for the largest monthly gain in over two years.
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Wholesale sales jumped  ; 2.7% in December to  ; $42.8  ; billion, following a 0.3% rise in November. December’s increase was the largest since March  ; 2004.
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While a solid showing by the automotive sector (+7.5%) was behind much of December’s rise, there were also notable gains in the other products” (mainly agricultural products, chemicals and recycled metals), personal and household goods and building materials sectors. Three sectors registered drops in …
Milacron Inc., Cincinnati, OH, reported a net loss for the year of $39.7 million, compared with a net loss of $14 million in 2005.
Sales in 2006 reached $820 million, up from $809 million in 2005. New orders were $828 million compared to $819 million in the prior year.
In the fourth quarter of 2006 of $8.6 million, including $5.1 million in restructuring costs and $1.8 million in refinancing charges. This compared to net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2005 of $5.8 million, which included a $5.5 million tax benefit.
Fourth quarter sales were $198 million, down from $217 million in the year-ago quarter. New orders were $203 million, compared to $212 million in 2005. The bulk of new orders came late in the quarter, which negatively impacted …
Interline Brands, Jacksonville, FL, reported sales for fiscal 2006, increased 25% to $1.068 billion. Average organic daily sales grew 8.3%.
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Profit was $31.2 million in 2006, compared with $28.8 million in 2005.
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The acquisition of AmSan in July 2006 added $129.8 million to the second half of 2006, and the acquisition of Copperfield in July 2005 added $18.6 million the first half of 2006. Average daily sales growth, as a result, grew 25.8% for the year.
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In the fourth quarter 2006, sales grew 30% to $67.3 million. Average daily sales growth was 29.8%. Average organic daily sales growth was 2.6%.
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Interline’s facilities maintenance market, representing 60% of sales in the fourth quarter, …
Praxair Inc., Danbury, CT, has agreed to buy The Linde Group’s industrial and medical gases business in Mexico. Linde’s Mexican business operates under the name of AGA S.A. de C.V. The transaction excludes the Mexican assets of the BOC Group, which Linde acquired as part of its acquisition of BOC.
The sale of Linde’s Mexican business is part of a mutual agreement between Praxair and Linde under which Linde acquired the Turkey-based industrial gases producer Karbogaz A. S. in July 2006. Karbogaz was formerly a joint venture company between Praxair and Ismail Aytemiz of Istanbul, Turkey.
AGA S.A. de C.V. has sales of about $75 million in fiscal 2006.
The acquisition of AGA S.A. de C.V. will increase our presence in the metropolitan area of Mexico City and place …
Paris-based Rexel, a global electrical distributor, has filed regulatory documents with France’s market regulator,  ; AMF,  ; in the first step towards a possible listing of Rexel on Euronext Paris. (The filing, found here by MDM on AMF’s Web site, is in French.)
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Rexel was bought about two years ago by a group of private equity firms, including Merrill Lynch, Eurazeo and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. A spokesman for Rexel told Agence France-Presse that the filing made with the …
Industrial Distribution Group, Inc. Atlanta, GA, reported sales of $547.9 million in 2006, up 2.9% on an organic basis. Profit was $6.8 million for 2006, compared with $5.4 million in 2005.
Revenue for the fourth quarter 2006 was $131.6 million, a 1.1% increase from $130.1 million in 2005. Profit for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $1.9 million compared with the 2005 profit of $1.5 million.
For the fourth quarter 2006, revenue from the Flexible Procurement Solutions(tm) (FPS) services, including storeroom management, was $80.5 million, or 61.2% of total revenue compared to $74.91 million, or 57.6% of total revenue in the prior-year period, reflecting a growth rate of 7.5%.
Total FPS revenue in 2006 …
Netherlands-based diversified distributor Hagemeyer NV reported sales of 6.22 billion euros (US$8.17 billion) in 2006. Organic growth was 11.5%. Profit for the year was 140 million euros (US$183.8 million), compared with a net loss of 58 million euros (US$76.1 million) last year.
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A strong global economic environment and high copper cable prices had a positive impact, said CEO Rudi de Becker. This is the first in three years that Hagemeyer has recorded a net gain. Hagemeyer’s turnaround has been successfully completed and we are now entering a new phase,” he said, “one focused on profitably growth – both on our own and through judicious acquisitions.”
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Overall organic growth in the Professional Products and Services division was …
Altra Holdings, Inc., Quincy, MA, has agreed to buy power-transmission product manufacturer TB Wood’s Corporation, Chambersburg, PA, for $24.80 a share.
TB Wood’s, with sales of $118.9 million in 2006, will become a fully owned subsidiary of Altra.
“TB Wood’s is a great fit with the existing Altra platforms and meets our disciplined acquisition philosophy perfectly, said Michael L. Hurt, chairman and CEO of Altra. “The acquisition of TB Wood’s broadens our growing coupling product line and adds engineered belted drive systems as well as adjustable speed electronic drives and systems to our product portfolio.”
TB Wood’s offering of elastomeric couplings fills a gap for Altra and will expand engineered coupling revenues by more than 50%. …
Genuine Parts Company, Atlanta, GA, reported sales in 2006 were $10.5 billion, up 7% compared to 2005. Net income for the year was $475.4 million, an increase of 9% from 2005.
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By division:
Automotive: $5.185 billion in sales, up 3.4%
Motion Industries: $3.107 billion, up 11%
Office Products: $1.779 billion, up 7%
Electrical/Electronic: $408 million, up 19%
In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales increased 6% to $2.54 billion.
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In the fourth quarter, Automotive Group sales were up 2%, Motion Industries up 11%, EIS (Electrical/Electronics Group) up 17%, and SP Richards, the office products group, up 4%.
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