October 2006

Regal-Beloit Corp., Beloit, WI, reported a 21.5% sales increase to $419.5 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006, and a 60.5% jump in profit for the same period.  In the Electrical Segment, sales increased 24.9% to $370.4 million. Included in the results for the quarter were $11.7 million of sales attributable to the […]

Huttig Building Products Inc., St. Louis, MO, distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products, reported sales declined 3% in the third quarter 2006 to $294.2 million.Sales to national accounts represented 33.5% of sales in the third quarter of 2006, as compared to 31.7% in the same period in 2005. Building products and engineered wood

Builders FirstSource, Inc., Dallas, TX, a supplier and manufacturer of structural and related building products for residential new construction, reported third-quarter sales declined 11.5% to $569.9 million, and profit was $17.3 million, down from $27.8 million in the same period last year.  ‘Our third quarter results reflect the current challenges facing the homebuilding industry as

Hardware distributor Orgill, Inc., Memphis, TN, will begin construction on its sixth distribution center during the second quarter of 2007. While a site for the new distribution center has not yet been finalized, the facility will serve Orgill’s customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Southern Arkansas. ‘Our business in this region, as well as the

ERIKS group nv has agreed to buy WYKO holdings Limited, based near Birmingham, Great Britain. WYKO is a distributor of power transmission, sealing technology, fluid power and maintenance products, mainly in Great Britain, with expected sales of 240 million GBP, or US$456 million, this year. WYKO has a market share of about 10-15% in Great Britain.

Schneider Electric has agreed to acquire American Power Conversion for $6.1 billion in cash. APC and its subsidiary MGE UPS Systems are suppliers in the critical power market, which, according to Schneider, is enjoying fast and sustainable long-term growth. “This growth is driven by the need for power supply continuity in an increasing number of critical

The Timken Company, Canton, OH, announced plans to build a new bearing manufacturing facility in India. The plant, in Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, will produce antifriction bearings for global markets. Timken’s new facility will be built in one of India’s new Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which provide a range of tax benefits,

Sterling Construction Company, Inc., Houston, TX, has sold its Pittsburgh, PA-based distribution business, Steel City Products, to The Bostwick-Braun Company of Toledo, OH, a privately-owned distributor of hardware and related items. The selling price is estimated at $5.1 million plus Steel City Product’s liabilities.The sale is part of Sterling’s focus on its core businesses. The

Real gross domestic product the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the U.S. increased at an annual rate of 1.6% in the third quarter of 2006, according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.  The Bureau emphasized that

Star Cutter Co., Farmington Hills, MI, has acquired Northern Tool Sales & Service, Warren, MI. Northern Tool Sales & Service is a design and build manufacturer of special drills, reamers, step drills, form tools and solid carbide tooling to about 170 customers in the ABS systems, cylinder head and engine block manufacturing industries. Star Cutter Company manufactures

The Black & Decker Corp., Towson, MD, reported sales of $1.6 billion in the third quarter 2006, up from $1.5 billion in the same period last year. Profit grew 3% to $125.1 million. Power Tools and Accessories increased sales 1%. Sales in the U.S. Industrial Products Group decreased at a low single-digit rate due to a

HVAC distributor Watsco Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, revenues grew 6% in the third quarter 2006, to $507 million. Same-store sales grew 5%. Profit was up 19% to $29.1 million. For the first nine months of 2006, sales grew 12% to $1.41 billion. Same-store sales were up 11%. The increase in revenues reflects improving sales mix from

Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire & cable and a distributor of fasteners and other small parts to Original Equipment Manufacturers,  reported third-quarter 2006 sales of $1.33 billion, including $13.6 million from the acquisition of IMS. Revenues rose 32% compared with the year-ago quarter. Profit rose 204% to

Hellman & Friedman, LLC and Thoma Cressey Capital Partners, LLC purchased Activant Solutions, which provides vertical business management software and owns Prophet 21, software focused on distribution. Singer Equities, a firm active in the rubber business, bought out Maine-based PRC Industrial Supply, a distributor of rubber, hose and accessories. Heritage Partners recently invested in electrical

million and expects 2006 sales to reach $600 million. The company is a national distributor of low-voltage network infrastructure and industrial wire and cable products. It has 32 branches, a sales force of more than 300 associates, and its marketing focuses on Fortune 1000 and large institutional customers in the U.S. The acquisition will close

similar to last year, dropping to 70 percent in September 2006 from 72 percent in September 2005. Although the composite index and several individual indexes point to slower growth, several indexes’notably exports and capacity utilization’rose,” said Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D., Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI chief economist. “Further, all of the indexes remain well above the 50 percent

What are the obstacles in getting more distributors involved?HL: The size of distributors is an issue along with language problems. Countries like Switzerland and Belgium have several official languages the association cannot afford to be multilingual. And multilingual means accommodating more than just three different languages.MDM: What about Eastern European distributors’ involvement is this important

The PTDA is not the only organization reaching across the Atlantic. Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International executive vice president and COO Donald Frendberg recently addressed European distributors at the 48th FEST Congress (European Federation of the Sanitary and Heating Wholesale Trade) in Portugal. The conference brought together more than 170 attendees from 11 European