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Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Home Channel News has reported that Stock Building Supply, the U.S. building materials distribution arm of Wolseley plc, has announced some specifics in its cost-cutting plans. The latest: It will close 22 stores in 12 states, reducing its work force by 200.
The locations are Norfolk, VA; Springfield, OH; Mundelein Yard, IL; Richmond, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, IN; Reed City, Cadillac, Plainwell, Hillman, Kalkaska and North Oakland, MI; Lindstrom and Rush City, MN; Princeton and Janesville, WI; Temple Millwork and San Antonio Truss, TX; Manti, UT; Blackfoot, ID; Springs Stair, CO; and Signal Hill Sash/Door, CA.
The closed stores are in areas that can be serviced by larger Stock stores in the same market, according to Wolseley.
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Huttig Building Products, Inc., St. Louis, MO, distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products, reported sales were $1.103 billion in 2006, up slightly from 2005. A 9% increase in the first half of the year offset the 7% decline in sales in the second half of the year when the housing market began to decline. Huttig had an operating loss of $4.1 million for the year.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales were $231.1 million, with an operating loss of $2.6 million. Sales were down 13% from the same period a year ago, reflecting the 24% drop in housing starts. Sales to national accounts for the quarter, which represented 34.8% of sales, declined by 7%.
Overall in 2006, sales to national accounts represented 33.4% of sales in 2006 as …
The value of construction spending put in place in 2006 was $1, 198.0 billion, 4.8% above the $1,143.7 billion spent in 2005.
The value of private construction in 2006 was $928.7 billion, 3.3% above the $899.0 billion spent in 2005. Residential construction in 2006 was down 1.9% …
The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, has reached an agreement with Relational Investors LLC. The investment firm is headed by Ralph Whitworth, who has criticized HD’s executive strategy, including its HD Supply division, and has demanded a place on the board.
As part of the agreement, David Batchelder, a principal of Relational, will join HD’s board of directors on Feb. 22, 2007. Relational has agreed to drop its proxy contest – Batchelder will be appointed to the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee and to the Audit Committee.
Today’s agreement follows actions taken by Relational in December 2006 to solicit proxies for a resolution to be brought before The Home Depot’s annual meeting seeking an independent committee …
Bunzl plc has acquired the business of Tec Products Co. Inc., a private company based in New Jersey. Tec Products is a supplier of jan/san and associated products through redistributors. Revenue in the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, is estimated at $14 million.
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Bunzl has also purchased Westgate Sales Corporation and Westgate Canada Ltd., also based in New Jersey with facilities in Ontario and Alberta, Canada. Westgate supplies personal protection equipment through redistributors in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Revenue in the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, is estimated at US$18 million.
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Tec Products expands our jan/san business in the northeast region of the U.S. while Westgate adds further scale and geographical coverage to our personal …
Gates Corporation’s Industrial Power Transmission division has launched an online store at PTPlace.com, an e-commerce Web site that offers authorized U.S. distributors the convenience of ordering the firm’s complete line of belt drive system products from one popular internet mall.
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PTPlace is a key component of Gates equity investment in CoLinx, LLC, which took place in 2006. CoLinx provides e-business and logistics services and manages the PTplace.com e-commerce portal and PTbroker system-to-system connection. Through these programs, over eight million transactions are processed per year between manufacturers and their authorized distributors.
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At the PTPlace mall, Gates joins Rockwell Automation, The Schaeffer Group, SKF and …
Prices charged by manufacturers in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), were up  ; 1.4% in December from the month before thanks to a significant increase in prices for petroleum and coal products, primary metal products, and motor vehicles. Higher prices were observed in the majority of product groups.
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On a 12-month basis, the IPPI rose by  ; 3.6%, a higher rate of growth than the year-over-year increase recorded between September and November. The upward pressure came mainly from higher prices for primary metal products, pulp and paper products as well as fruit, vegetables and feed products.
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The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) was up by  ; 5.2% from November to December, closing the year …
Building Materials Holding Corporation, San Francisco, CA, provider of construction services and building materials to professional residential builders and contractors, reported sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 decreased 26% to $608 million from $818 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales increased 11% to $3.2 billion from $2.9 billion in 2005.
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Net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $4.5 million compared to $33.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the year, net income was $102.1 million compared to $129.5 million in the same period of 2005.
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Robert E. Mellor, Chairman, President and CEO, said: Our fourth-quarter results reflect the ongoing correction of inventory levels …
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in January after a one-month expansion, while the overall economy grew for the 63rd month, according to the latest manufacturing ISM Report on Business.
After a slight rebound in December, the manufacturing sector did not grow in January. New Orders remained positive, but little change has taken place as the PMI has averaged 50.5% in the past four months. In overall terms, manufacturing lost momentum in the second half of 2006 and is starting 2007 in a less than robust fashion, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
Results show a decline in the Inventories Index to the lowest level since February 2002, indicating a significant liquidation is taking place in many supply chains. …
Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire & cable and fasteners, reported sales of $4.94 billion in the year ended Dec. 29, 2006, up from $3.85 billion last year. Profit was $209.3 million in 2006.
Sales in 2006 were boosted by the acquisition of Infast in July 2005, IMS in May 2006 and MFU in October 2006.
Sales in the fourth quarter were $1.3 billion, including $23.5 million from acquisitions. Sales were up 27% from the same period a year ago. Profit increased 160% to $52.4 million. Organic growth was 22% in the fourth quarter.
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Anixter reported it saw strong large-project business, related to data center builds in the enterprise cabling market and energy and natural …
