Roofing and building product distributor Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. reported sales in the first quarter 2007 increased 11.9% to $380.2 million in 2007 from the same period a year ago. Organic sales declined 5.5% in 2007 but increased 2.3% on a per business day basis.

The existing market growth rate was still below the high pace of recent quarters and can be attributed, in part, to a significant slowdown in new residential construction, a flattening of inflation and the prior-year extensive re-roofing and reconstruction activities in some of the company’s markets following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A negative sales trend continued into the first month of the second quarter of this year, which may not be reflective of the entire quarter’s sales results due to the …