Avnet Inc. (Nasdaq: AVT), Phoenix, Arizona, reported sales for the fiscal first quarter of $4.7 billion, a 2% increase from the same period a year ago. Electronic component sales grew 2.1% to $4.4 billion. Avnet reported sales in the Americas of $1.2 billion, sales in EMEA of $1.5 billion and sales in Asia of $2 billion.

The company reported a loss for the quarter of $18.9 million, compared to a profit of $41.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

“Our first quarter results reflect improving macroeconomic conditions and our renewed emphasis on effective execution within our Electronic Components business,” said Avnet Interim CEO Phil Gallagher. “Revenues were better than expected, driven by improving demand in our Asia region and across a variety of verticals, most notably auto. In the quarter, we sharpened our focus on our primary components distribution business and continued to diligently help our supplier partners deploy their technologies to meet the needs of our end customers. We are rebalancing our strategy, realigning our organizational structure and we continue to see great value in Farnell’s opportunity to strengthen Avnet’s global digital footprint to be more responsive to customer and supplier needs. I am proud of how Avnet is managing through this challenging environment and diversifying our revenue streams to deliver on our 2021 fiscal year priorities of improving top-line growth, generating greater operating margin and earning an adequate return on capital.”