Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International reported a 19.4 percent sales increase for May. The average annualized growth for the 12 months through May 2017 was 9.4 percent.
“The good report reflects the healthy underlying market fundamentals,” said Brian Loftus, HARDI's market research & benchmarking analyst. “The growth rate received an added boost from one extra billing day. The estimated growth rate with the same number of billing days would be in the mid-teens. The busy May was helped by warmer temperatures and very easy comparison versus the prior year for several of our regions.”
“Growth for HARDI members was downright robust in May. U.S. consumers are benefiting from wage growth and low interest rates, which are contributing to GDP growth,” said Connor Lokar, HARDI's senior economist. “U.S. Private Sector Employment averaged a record 122.8 million individuals for the 12 months through April, and wages are up 3.5 percent.”
The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now 55 days.
