Watsco Organic Sales Up 11% in 2010

HVAC distributor Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) (Paris:WSO), Miami, FL, reported sales for the full year 2010 were up 42 percent to $2.8 billion. Sales were up 11 percent on a same-store basis. Profit was $81 million.

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Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco's president and CEO, said: "We remain focused on several opportunities to drive growth. First, the trend toward higher-efficiency and environmentally-sensitive HVAC products remains strong. Second, the residential installed base of HVAC systems is the oldest it has been in the history of the industry and will require replacement as older units become more expensive to repair.

"Third, sales of commercial products have been increasing in the last several months and are expected to recover further as capital spending continues to increase. Finally, we continue to seek opportunities to build our network through the acquisition of great businesses using our proven buy-and-build strategy."

Fourth-quarter revenues increased 17 percent to $657 million, reflecting 23 percent growth in air conditioning and heating (HVAC) equipment (63 percent of sales), 6 percent growth in other HVAC products (31 percent of sales) and 19 percent growth in commercial refrigeration products (6 percent of sales). Sales of HVAC equipment benefited from strong replacement demand, market share growth and an improved sales mix of higher-efficiency replacement HVAC systems.

Profit was $10 million.