WESCO International Inc. (NYSE: WCC), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rode its $4.5 billion acquisition of Anixter International Inc. to another quarter of strong sales growth. The electrical distribution giant reported third-quarter sales of $4.1 billion, up 93% from the same period a year ago due to Anixter’s financials now being included in the earnings report. The company reported a profit of $66.2 million, down slightly from a profit of $64.5 million in the year-ago period.

“We delivered very strong results in the third quarter and exceeded our sales, margin, profit and cash generation expectations,” said John J. Engel, WESCO’s chairman, president and CEO. “This was our first full quarter of results after completing the merger with Anixter and clearly highlights the value creation potential of this transformational combination. Business momentum improved through the quarter as we took market share and built an all-time record third quarter backlog. We aggressively managed our business and executed significant cost reduction, margin improvement and cash management actions, which enabled us to deliver profit growth in the third quarter. Free cash flow generation was exceptional at over 300% of net income and demonstrates our resilient business model and strength through the cycle. Notably, net debt was reduced by $280 million thereby reducing our financial leverage consistent with our capital allocation priorities.”

WESCO’s sales for the first nine months of 2020 were $8.2 billion, an increase of 31% compared to the year-ago period. The company reported a profit for the first nine months of $64.8 million, down from a profit of $170.3 million for the same period of 2019.