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The final leg of this three-part series examines the HVACR supplier’s perception of being a technology company that happens to distribute products, and how it’s followed through on it.
The Timken Company, Canton, OH, reported sales of $5 billion for 2006, up 3% from a year ago. Sales exclude Latrobe Steel, which the company sold in December and has accounted for as discontinued operations.
Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC, Chicago, IL, has made an equity investment in Mainline Supply Company, Charlotte, NC, a distributor of underground infrastructure products in the Southeast.
Home Channel News has reported that Stock Building Supply, the U.S. building materials distribution arm of Wolseley plc, has announced some specifics in its cost-cutting plans. The latest: It will close 22 stores in 12 states, reducing its work force by 200.
The locations are Norfolk, VA; Springfield, OH; Mundelein Yard, IL; Richmond, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, IN; Reed City, Cadillac, Plainwell, Hillman, Kalkaska and North Oakland, MI; Lindstrom and Rush City, MN; Princeton and Janesville, WI; Temple Millwork and San Antonio Truss, TX; Manti, UT; Blackfoot, ID; Springs Stair, CO; and Signal Hill Sash/Door, CA.
The closed stores are in areas that can be serviced by larger Stock stores in the same market, according to Wolseley.
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84 Lumber Company, Eighty Four, PA, a privately held supplier of building materials and services to professional contractors, posted $3.92 billion in sales for 2006, holding steady from 2005.
Hardware and renovation products distributor and retailer RONA, Boucherville, Quebec, has acquired Noble Trade Inc., a plumbing and heating supply wholesaler in Ontario with annual sales of about C$150 million. The purchase price was close to 7X EBITDA, RONA executives said in a conference call.
Bunzl plc has acquired the business of Tec Products Co. Inc., a private company based in New Jersey. Tec Products is a supplier of jan/san and associated products through redistributors. Revenue in the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, is estimated at $14 million.
The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, has reached an agreement with Relational Investors LLC. The investment firm is headed by Ralph Whitworth, who has criticized HD’s executive strategy, including its HD Supply division, and has demanded a place on the board.
As part of the agreement, David Batchelder, a principal of Relational, will join HD’s board of directors on Feb. 22, 2007. Relational has agreed to drop its proxy contest – Batchelder will be appointed to the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee and to the Audit Committee.
Today’s agreement follows actions taken by Relational in December 2006 to solicit proxies for a resolution to be brought before The Home Depot’s annual meeting seeking an independent committee …
The value of construction spending put in place in 2006 was $1, 198.0 billion, 4.8% above the $1,143.7 billion spent in 2005.
The value of private construction in 2006 was $928.7 billion, 3.3% above the $899.0 billion spent in 2005. Residential construction in 2006 was down 1.9% …
Huttig Building Products, Inc., St. Louis, MO, distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products, reported sales were $1.103 billion in 2006, up slightly from 2005. A 9% increase in the first half of the year offset the 7% decline in sales in the second half of the year when the housing market began to decline. Huttig had an operating loss of $4.1 million for the year.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales were $231.1 million, with an operating loss of $2.6 million. Sales were down 13% from the same period a year ago, reflecting the 24% drop in housing starts. Sales to national accounts for the quarter, which represented 34.8% of sales, declined by 7%.
Overall in 2006, sales to national accounts represented 33.4% of sales in 2006 as …
Building Materials Holding Corporation, San Francisco, CA, provider of construction services and building materials to professional residential builders and contractors, reported sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 decreased 26% to $608 million from $818 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales increased 11% to $3.2 billion from $2.9 billion in 2005.
Prices charged by manufacturers in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), were up  ; 1.4% in December from the month before thanks to a significant increase in prices for petroleum and coal products, primary metal products, and motor vehicles. Higher prices were observed in the majority of product groups.
Gates Corporation’s Industrial Power Transmission division has launched an online store at PTPlace.com, an e-commerce Web site that offers authorized U.S. distributors the convenience of ordering the firm’s complete line of belt drive system products from one popular internet mall.
W.W. Grainger, Chicago, IL, distributor of facilities maintenance supplies, has released its updated 2007 catalog with more than 138,000 MRO products, an increase of 23,000 over last year.
WESCO International Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, reports sales increased 20.3% to $5.32 billion, compared with $4.4 billion in 2005. Profit for the year was $217 million, double the profit of last year.
3M, St. Paul, MN, has acquired the Rite-Lok global industrial adhesives product line from Chemence Inc., a specialty chemical company that manufactures consumer and industrial adhesives.
Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire & cable and fasteners, reported sales of $4.94 billion in the year ended Dec. 29, 2006, up from $3.85 billion last year. Profit was $209.3 million in 2006.
Sales in 2006 were boosted by the acquisition of Infast in July 2005, IMS in May 2006 and MFU in October 2006.
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in January after a one-month expansion, while the overall economy grew for the 63rd month, according to the latest manufacturing ISM Report on Business.
After a slight rebound in December, the manufacturing sector did not grow in January. New Orders remained positive, but little change has taken place as the PMI has averaged 50.5% in the past four months. In overall terms, manufacturing lost momentum in the second half of 2006 and is starting 2007 in a less than robust fashion, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
Results show a decline in the Inventories Index to the lowest level since February 2002, indicating a significant liquidation is taking place in many supply chains. …
Danaher Corporation, Washington, D.C., reported sales for 2006 were $9.5 billion compared to $7.98 billion in 2005, an increase of 20%. Profit was $1.1 billion for fiscal 2006, up 25% over last year.
W.W. Grainger reported sales of $5.9 billion for fiscal 2006, up 6% versus 2005, and 7% on a daily basis. Profit for the year increased 11% to $383 million, as compared with $346 million in 2005.
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