Metalworking and MRO supplies distributor MSC Industrial Supply reported its 2024 fiscal fourth quarter and full year results on Oct. 24, showing a decline in both the fourth quarter sales and full year sales.

Full-Year Results

For the 12 months ended Aug. 31, MSC’s full-year total sales of $3.8 billion decreased 4.7% year-over-year.

MSC said that the key impact of full-year declines was an approximate 160 bps headwind from non-repeating public sector orders.

The company’s full year gross margin of 41.2% was up 70 basis points year-over-year — attributed to MSC’s National Account customer growth which outperformed the Industrial Production index.

MSC’s full-year operating profit of $390.4 million was down 19.3% year-over-year, with an operating margin of 10.2% down 190 bps. Net profit of $258.6 million was down 24.7% year-over-year. On an adjusted basis, operating profit and net profit were down 19.3% and 23.3%, respectively.

“Ongoing softness in the heavy manufacturing markets where we have significant exposure and headwinds from non-repeating orders in the prior year resulted in an average daily sales decline of 4.7% for the fiscal year,” MSC Executive VP and CFO Kristen Actis-Grande said.

4Q Results

For the three months ended Aug. 31, MSC posted total sales of $952.3 million that were down 8.0% year-over-year.

MSC said the key drivers of the 4Q sales decline were an approximate 300 basis-point headwind from non-repeating public sector orders in the prior year.

The company’s 4Q gross margin of 41.0% was up 50 bps year-over-year and up 10 bps sequentially — attributed to MSC’s high touch solution and progress on web enhancements.

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MSC’s 4Q operating profit of $90.9 million was down 23% year-over-year, with operating margin of 9.5% down 190 bps year-over-year. Net profit of $55.67 million was down 36.4% year-over-year. On an adjusted basis, operating profit and net profit were down 27.8% and 36.8%, respectively.

“During our fiscal fourth quarter, we made important progress in our Mission Critical strategy despite a challenging macro environment, particularly in heavy manufacturing,” MSC CEO Erik Gershwind said in the company’s financial release. “We sustained momentum in our high touch solutions, made solid progress on our web enhancements, restored gross margin stability, added to our productivity pipeline and generated strong free cash flow.”

On Sept. 24, MSC announced the promotion of former COO Martina McIsaac to Company President, effective Sept. 23.

2025 Fiscal Year

MSC reported its 1Q fiscal year outlook:

• Average daily sales between -5.5% to -4.5%
• Adjusted operating margin from 7.0% to 7.5%

“As we begin fiscal year 2025, we are focused on driving efficiencies across the organization and executing the three pillars that define our new chapter of Mission Critical — maintaining momentum in the first chapter of Mission Critical, reenergizing the core customer base, and optimizing our cost to serve through productivity improvements,” Gershwind added.

With $4.0 billion in 2023 fiscal revenue, MSC appeared on four of MDM’s 2024 Top Distributors Lists: Industrial Supplies (13th), MRO (6th), Fasteners (4th) and Safety (5th).