Interline Brands, Inc. (NYSE: IBI), Jacksonville, FL, distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations products, reported sales for the third quarter 2009 were $277.9 million, a decline of 12.5% from the prior-year period.
Average organic daily sales decreased 13.6% for the quarter. Interline’s facilities maintenance end-market, which comprised 75% of sales, declined 6.2% during the third quarter and 7.9% on an average organic daily sales basis. The professional contractor end-market, which comprised 15% of sales, declined 28.5% for the quarter and the specialty distributor end-market, which comprised 10% of sales, declined 24.0% for the quarter.
Interline reported that visibility remains low and expects continued softness across some of its end markets.
Third quarter 2009 operating income of $21.5 million , or 7.7% of sales, decreased 25.3% compared to the third quarter of 2008. Third quarter profit was $10.4 million, down $13.7 million from the prior-year period.
Sales for the nine months ended Sept. 25, 2009 were $804.7 million , a 12.4% decrease from the comparable 2008 period.
Operating income was $44.6 million , or 5.5% of sales, for the nine months. Profit was $19.7 million, down from $33.5 million in the first nine months of 2009.
