Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG),Radnor, PA, No. 4 on the list of top industrial distributors, reported sales for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, 2011, of $1.19 billion, an increase of 12 percent over the prior year. Profit increased 16.7 percent to $77.7 million.

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Total same-store sales grew 10 percent in the quarter, with hardgoods up 14 percent and gas and rent up 7 percent . Sequentially, sales increased 2 percent from the first quarter both in total and on a sales-per-day basis.

\”We continue to see strength in the manufacturing-intensive regions of the U.S. and in our petrochemical and energy customers,\” CEO Peter McCausland said. \”The relative outperformance in our hardgoods business on the strength of sales to large manufacturing customers and the mix shift within hardgoods to welding and automation equipment had a dilutive effect on our gross margin, but are generally indicative of sustained activity levels in the manufacturing economy. While this is cause for optimism, given the global economic uncertainty that unfolded during the quarter, we are paying close attention to our business trends and have proven in the past that we can quickly adjust our cost structure if warranted.\”

For the first six months of the fiscal year, sales were $2.35 billion, up 11.4 percent over the same period a year ago. Profit increased 16 percent to $152.5 million.