February 2007 - Page 4 of 4 - Modern Distribution Management

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February 2007

Beacon Sales Up 11.9% in 1Q 2007

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, News, Free, Companies, Building Materials/Construction /

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 ...

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U.S. Electrical Services to Buy Max Goldman

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Top Distributor Sectors, Electrical, News, Subscriber Only /

U.S. Electrical Services, LLC, Exton, PA, has agreed to buy the electrical supply business of Max Goldman, Inc.


Max Goldman, Inc., New Rochelle, NY, has maintained a presence in the Westchester County market for more than 100 years, supplying electrical supplies and lighting fixtures.&nbsp ;


US Electrical Services, LLC a Delaware limited liability company with principal offices of operation in Exton, PA., a wholesaler-distributor of electrical products and related services.


Related Links:
US Electrical Services to Buy Hampden/Zimmerman Electric Supply
US Electrical ...

U.S. Electrical Services to Buy Max Goldman Read More »

84 Lumber Sales in 2006 Hold Steady from 2005

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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.


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"Despite a tough year in the housing market with starts dramatically down in the second half of the year and material prices depressed, we saw benefits from our three-year strategic growth plan launched in April of 2006. We increased market share and sold more product, which are positive signs as we move into 2007, said 84 Lumber Company President Maggie Hardy Magerko.


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The company is on track to add at least 23 new stores this year in high-growth markets, as well as 11 component manufacturing ...

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Stock Building Supply Announces Store Cuts

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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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Stock Building Supply Announces Store Cuts Read More »

RONA Buys C$150M Plumbing Distributor Noble Trade

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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.


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Noble Trade was created in 1998 with the merger of Trade Plumbing Supplies and Noble Plumbing Supplies. The company has posted average annual sales increases of 27% since 1998. Most of that growth was organic, with either new stores or sales growth at existing stores, said Noble President Michael Storfer.


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Storfer said Noble sold to RONA because it ...

RONA Buys C$150M Plumbing Distributor Noble Trade Read More »

Timken Sales Up 3% in 2006

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, News, Free /

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.


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Timken benefited from strength in global industrial markets, partially offset by declines in demand from the company's North American automotive customers during the second half of 2006.


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Timken benefited from strong industrial markets in 2006, although lower automotive demand constrained our overall performance, said James W. Griffith, Timken's president and CEO. More importantly, we advanced sweeping changes across the company, including initiatives to grow in Asia and key industrial markets, investments to differentiate our ...

Timken Sales Up 3% in 2006 Read More »

Code Hennessy & Simmons Invests in Mainline Supply

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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.


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Mainline specializes in underground water, sewer and drainage utility products that transmit potable and non-potable water to treatment plants, storage towers and pumping stations. The customer base includes municipalities, developers and utility contractors in residential, commercial and municipal construction projects.


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Mainline has 1,800 customers in 16 branches in seven states in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.


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We are poised for continued growth through geographic expansion, new product introductions and ...

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Huttig Building Products Records Loss for 2006

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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 ...

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Construction Spending Increases 4.8% in 2006

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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% ...

Construction Spending Increases 4.8% in 2006 Read More »

Home Depot Reaches Agreement With Activist Investor

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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 ...

Home Depot Reaches Agreement With Activist Investor Read More »

Bunzl Buys Two Redistributors

Leave a Comment / Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Safety Products, News, Subscriber Only /

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.


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Bunzl has also purchased Westgate Sales Corporation and Westgate Canada Ltd., also based in New Jersey with facilities in Ontario and Alberta, Canada. Westgate supplies personal protection equipment through redistributors in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Revenue in the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, is estimated at US$18 million.


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Tec Products expands our jan/san business in the northeast region of the U.S. while Westgate adds further scale and geographical coverage to our personal ...

Bunzl Buys Two Redistributors Read More »

Gates Corp. Launches Store at PTPlace

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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.


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PTPlace is a key component of Gates equity investment in CoLinx, LLC, which took place in 2006. CoLinx provides e-business and logistics services and manages the PTplace.com e-commerce portal and PTbroker system-to-system connection. Through these programs, over eight million transactions are processed per year between manufacturers and their authorized distributors.


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At the PTPlace mall, Gates joins Rockwell Automation, The Schaeffer Group, SKF and ...

Gates Corp. Launches Store at PTPlace Read More »

Canadian Price Index Up 3.6% in 2006

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Prices charged by manufacturers in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), were up&nbsp ; 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.


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On a 12-month basis, the IPPI rose by&nbsp ; 3.6%, a higher rate of growth than the year-over-year increase recorded between September and November. The upward pressure came mainly from higher prices for primary metal products, pulp and paper products as well as fruit, vegetables and feed products.


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The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) was up by&nbsp ; 5.2% from November to December, closing the year ...

Canadian Price Index Up 3.6% in 2006 Read More »

Building Materials Holding Corp. 2006 Sales Up 11%

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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.


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Net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $4.5 million compared to $33.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the year, net income was $102.1 million compared to $129.5 million in the same period of 2005.


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Robert E. Mellor, Chairman, President and CEO, said: Our fourth-quarter results reflect the ongoing correction of inventory levels ...

Building Materials Holding Corp. 2006 Sales Up 11% Read More »

New Grainger Catalog: 20% More Products

Leave a Comment / Free, Companies, Top Distributor Sectors, Facilities Maintenance (MRO), News, Subscriber Only /

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.


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Last year, the distributor increased its catalog by 40%, adding 39,000 new products.


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As planned, for 2007 Grainger has added more than 7,000 plumbing products, including high-grade pipes, valves and fittings; 4,000 material handling supplies such as conveyors, hoists and casters; 5,000 fasteners including nuts, bolts and screws; as well as 1,600 security products including locks and hinges.


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The company expects incremental sales from its ongoing product expansion to account for 1 to 2 percentage points of its growth in ...

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ISM: Manufacturing Contracts in January

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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. ...

ISM: Manufacturing Contracts in January Read More »

Anixter Grows Sales to $4.94B in 2006

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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.


Sales in the fourth quarter were $1.3 billion, including $23.5 million from acquisitions. Sales were up 27% from the same period a year ago. Profit increased 160% to $52.4 million. Organic growth was 22% in the fourth quarter.


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Anixter reported it saw strong large-project business, related to data center builds in the enterprise cabling market and energy and natural ...

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3M Acquires Rite-Lok Adhesives Line

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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.


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The line includes anaerobic threadlockers, retaining compounds, gasket makers, thread sealants, structural adhesives, and specialty cyanoacrylate instant adhesives for industrial use such as metal bonding, plastics and rubber. The line also includes high-temperature, low-odor industrial adhesives and rubber-toughened flexible adhesives.


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More Breaking ...

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WESCO 2006 Sales Up 20.3%

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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.


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The electrical distributor reported sales of $1.37 billion for the fourth quarter 2006, an increase of 11.3% over the same period last year. Profit was $58 million versus $40 million in the prior-year quarter.

More Breaking ...

WESCO 2006 Sales Up 20.3% Read More »

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