MDM News Digest 3920

Chicago, IL-based Grainger reported third-quarter sales of $1.6 billion, which were down 14% versus third quarter 2008. Profit for the quarter increased 3% to $145 million versus $140 million in 2008. The 2009 third quarter included a one-time $47 million pre-tax gain from the step-up of its investment in MonotaRO Co. Ltd., after Grainger became a majority owner in September. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2009, sales of $4.6 billion were down 13%, 12% on a daily basis, versus the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2008. Profit was down 9% to $333 million from the prior-year period. More

Grainger has acquired Imperial Supplies, LLC, Green Bay, WI. Imperial is a national distributor of maintenance products and aftermarket components for the vehicle and fleet industry with 2008 sales of $67 million. Imperial Supplies serves the $4 billion fleet maintenance industry. More

MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc., Melville, NY, distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations supplies to industrial customers reported sales for its fiscal 2009 ended Aug. 29, 2009, were $1.49 billion, down from $1.78 billion the previous year – a 16.3 percent drop. Profit for the year was $125.1 million, down from $196.2 million in 2008. For the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, sales were $354.1 million, down 21.1 percent from the prior-year period. Profit was $26 million, down from $50.5 million in the prior-year period. More

Industrial and construction supplies distributor The Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, reported sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, were $489.3 million, a decrease of 21.7% from the third quarter 2008. Profit was $47.5 million, down 34.7%. Sales for the first nine months were $1.45 billion, a decrease of 19% from the prior-year period. Profit fell 35.6% to $139.8 million. More

Atlanta, GA-based Genuine Parts Company reported sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, were down 10% to $2.6 billion from the prior-year period. Profit for the quarter was $107.6 million, a decrease of 18%. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2009, sales were $7.6 billion, down 11%. Profit for the nine months was down 23%. Sales for Motion Industries, GPC's industrial unit, were down 22% for the quarter, and EIS, the Electrical Group, was down 30%. Sales for the Automotive Group were down 1%, and S.P. Richards, the Office Products Group, was down 5%. More

Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, reported sales for the first quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, were $437.7 million, down 19.5 percent from the year-ago period. Profit declined 50.4 percent to $11.2 million. More

Bunzl plc reported sales in the third quarter have gone up 8% in the period ended June 30, 2009, from the prior-year period - primarily due to the effects of exchange. Organic sales were down 1%, slightly better than results in the first half of the year. More

Swiss fasteners distributor Bossard reported third quarter sales of CHF 93.9 million (US$92.4 million), down 32.8 percent from the prior year. Year-to-date, sales were CHF 299.8 million (US$295 million), down 31.8 percent. More

Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has launched the WIDIA Products Group. This launch completes the migration of all its current brands of metalcutting tools and tooling systems into two distinct portfolios: WIDIA Products Group and Kennametal Products Group. More

3M plans to spend $1 billion on acquisitions within the next 12 months, according to an article today by Bloomberg. The company plans to make 10 to 20 purchases in different industries, CEO George Buckley told Bloomberg. 3M will focus on acquiring brands that will help it to expand globally. 3M is a diversified manufacturer based in St. Paul, MN. More

Universal Forest Products Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, reported sales of $457.8 million for the third quarter 2009, down 25% from the prior-year period. Profit was $10.1 million for the quarter. More

Parker Hannifin Corp. , Cleveland, OH, manufacturer of motion and control technologies, reported sales for the fiscal 2010 first quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, were $2.2 billion, a decline of 27 percent from a year ago. Profit fell 71 percent to $73.5 million. Organic sales fell 28 percent. Acquisitions contributed 2 percent to sales. More

Diversified electrical manufacturer Eaton Corp. , Cleveland, OH, reported third quarter sales of $3.0 billion, down 26% from the third quarter 2008. Profit decreased 39% to $193 million. Core sales were down 23%. Year-to-date, sales were $8.7 billion, down 26% from the first nine months of 2008. Profit decreased 81% to $172 million. More

Carlisle Companies Inc., Charlotte, NC, reported net sales from continuing operations of $604.6 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, a 27 percent decline from $832.5 million in the third quarter of 2008. Sales were down across all segments, with organic sales decreasing by 26 percent from the third quarter of the prior year. More

Swedish manufacturer SKF reported sales in its third quarter 2009 were down 13.4 percent in SEK; for the first nine months, sales fell 10 percent. Most of the decrease was due to volume. Profit was down by nearly half. More

Precision Castparts Corp. , Portland, OR, reported sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 were $1.3 billion, down 27.8 percent from the prior year period. Profit decreased 23 percent to $207.3 million. Year-to-date, sales were $2.7 billion, down 25.7 percent from the first six months of fiscal year 2009. Profit declined 17.9 percent to $447.7 million. More

Cleaning and maintenance supplies manufacturer Zep Inc. (NYSE:ZEP), Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009 were $134.3 million, down 12.1% from the year ago period. Profit declined 20.4% to $6.3 million. For fiscal year 2009, sales were $501.0 million, down 12.8% from fiscal year 2008. Profit decreased 42.9% to $9.3 million. More

Diversified manufacturer Illinois Tool Works Inc., Glenview, IL, reported third-quarter operating revenues were $3.6 billion, down 19.8 percent from a year ago but better than second quarter results. Base revenues were down 22.2 percent. Profit decreased by 33.3 percent to $302.4 million. More

Sweden-based Alfa Laval, a manufacturer in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling, reported third quarter sales were SEK 5.8 billion (US$847.2 million), a decrease of 12.3 percent from the prior year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, sales were down 18 percent. Profit was down 30 percent to SEK 704 million (US$102.8 million). More

Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL, reported sales of $7.3billion for the third quarter, down 44 percent from sales in the third quarter of 2008. Profit decreased 53.5 percent to $404 million. "We believe the third quarter marked the low point for Caterpillar sales and revenues in what has been the toughest recession since the 1930s. We are seeing encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be underway," CEO Jim Owens said. "However, the world economy is still facing significant challenges. There is uncertainty about the timing and strength of recovery." More

By region, housing starts in September fell 38.4 percent in the Northeast year-over-year; declined 22.5 percent in the Midwest; decreased 26.5 percent in the South; and fell 30.5 percent in the West. More

August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $129.16 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 14.8 percent from July and down 63.3 percent from the total of $351.66 million reported for August 2008. With a year-to-date total of $1,041.57 million, 2009 is down 67.7 percent compared with 2008. More

U.S. manufacturers of power transmission products experienced an increase in sales while Canadian manufacturers had a drop in sales in August 2009, according to sales data released by the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA). U.S. manufacturers' sales rose by 10.7 percent in August 2009 when compared to July 2009. Sales in August 2009 are down 30.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Canadian manufacturers' sales fell 6.6 percent compared to July 2009. More

Wholesale prices fell 0.6 percent in September, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The decrease follows a 1.7 percent rise in August, and a 0.9 percent decline in July. More

Canadian manufacturing sales declined 2.1 percent to $40.9 billion in August following a 5.2 percent gain in July. The aerospace product and parts and motor vehicle industries were the major contributors to the decline in sales. Sales have been relatively level since February, after declining 20.4 percent between October 2008 and January 2009. Constant dollar manufacturing sales fell 2.3 percent in August. Sales in 13 of 21 manufacturing industries decreased. More

Bailey Tools & Supply Inc., Louisville, KY, has acquired Indianapolis, IN-based Capitol Drilling & Contractors Supply. Bailey Tools reported that the purchase complements its current lines and adds new brands including STIHL and Honda Power Equipment. More

Declines in home improvement spending will moderate through the end of 2009 and first half of 2010 according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The indicator suggests the remodeling industry is turning a corner. Annual spending levels should start to rise in the beginning of next year causing year over year declines to shrink to 8.9 percent by the second quarter of 2010. More

The AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index in September found the "current situation" deteriorating even as "future expectations" improved to an all-time high. September's Current Situation Index declined to 45.8 from 91.7 the previous month. Meanwhile, the Future Expectations Index, made up of components projecting sales six and twelve months out, increased to 191.4 from 170.7 in August. More

Overall manufacturing activity is expected to contract over the next three to six months, but the composite index from the quarterly Manufacturers Alliance/ MAPI Survey on the Business Outlook – September 2009 is showing signs of improvement. The September 2009 composite index rose to 38 from a near-historic low of 24 reported in the June 2009 report. It also represents the highest level since September 2008 when an index of 48 was recorded. More