Fastenal Co. (Nasdaq: FAST), Winona, Minnesota, reported sales of $1.6 billion for the third quarter, a 10% increase from the same period the previous year. Profit of $243.5 million marked a 9% increase over the same period in 2020.

Sales for the first nine months were $4.5 billion, a 4.4% increase over the same period of 2020, while profit of $693.8 million was up 4.6% from 2020.

Daily sales to government and warehousing customers declined 40.5% and 13.6%, respectively, while sales of safety products and janitorial supplies declined 2.9% and 15.4%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2021 when compared with 2020.

Fastener daily sales grew 20.2% over the third quarter of 2020 and represented 33.4% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021. Fasteners represented 30.5% and 33.7% of net sales in the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively.

Improvement from the third quarter of 2020 reflected higher manufacturing and construction demand, Fastenal said.

Safety product daily sales declined 2.9% from the third quarter of 2020 and represented 21.1% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021. Safety products represented 23.8% and 18.2% of net sales in the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively.

The decline from the third quarter of 2020 reflected the absence of surge-related PPE sales, only partly offset by improvements in manufacturing and construction demand, Fastenal said.

Other products daily sales grew 9.2% over the third quarter of 2020 and represented 45.5% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021. Other products represented 45.7% and 48.1% of net sales in the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively.

Improvement from 2020 reflected higher manufacturing and construction demand, only partly offset by the absence of surge-related sanitation sales, the company said.

Sales in September were $531.4 million, an 11.1% increase over the same period in 2020. For the month, Fastenal reported daily sales of $25.3 million, also up 11.1% versus the same period a year ago.