MSC Industrial Direct Inc., Melville, NY, distributor of MRO supplies to industrial customers, reported sales of $404.6 million in the second quarter 2007, an increase of 32.3% from the same period last year. J & L Industry Supply, acquired in 2006, accounted for 70% of this growth.
Growth minus the J & L acquisition was 9% in the second quarter, according to MDM calculations.
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Profit for the second quarter 2007 increased 21.5% to $40.5 million.
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Sales in the first half of fiscal 2007 were $806.6 million, an increase of 34% versus a year ago, with J & L accounting for 70% of this growth. Growth minus J & L was about 10% in the first half.  ; Profit for the first half of fiscal 2007 was $80.8 million, compared to $65.3 million in the year-ago period, an increase of 23.8%.
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MSC reported softening in market conditions in the quarter, but said customer segments are generally optimistic” and order flow is steady. “Pockets of our customers (are) experiencing lower levels of order activity than what was previously seen,” however, MSC reported.
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MSC Industrial Direct is a distributor of metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operation (MRO)  ; supplies to industrial customers throughout the U.S. MSC distributes more than 500,000 industrial products from more than 2,100 suppliers to about 347,000 customers. MSC reaches its customers through a combination of over 30 million direct-mail catalogs and CD-ROMs, 95 branch sales offices, 750 salespeople, the Internet and B2B e-commerce portals.
