MSC Industrial Direct Co., Melville, NY, distributor of metalworking and MRO supplies to industrial customers, reported sales in the fiscal year 2008 were $1.778 billion, up 7.5% from the prior year. Profit for the year was $196.2 million , up from $173.9 million in fiscal 2007.
 
We are pleased with our performance in the fiscal 2008 fourth quarter, which completed another very strong year for MSC,”said David Sandler, president and CEO. “During the quarter we strongly executed on our plan to gain market share from smaller, less well capitalized competitors that cannot offer the same combination of product breadth, customer service, and financial strength as MSC. Those attributes become even more important to customers, both large and small, during challenging economic times, as they seek an MRO partner who can help them reduce their operating costs while also guarding against potentially costly breaks in their supply chain.
 
“In addition, our performance benefitted from the success of our Large Customer Program, as the current economic climate has had less of an impact on demand from our national account base as compared to that of our smaller customers.”
 
The company says it is “very cautious” going forward; as the economy “continues to soften” it plays to aggressively reduce discretionary spending to partially offset inflationary expense increases and the impact of a potential slowdown in sales.
 
“Clearly, these are challenging times, as the deterioration in the credit markets has exacerbated the effect of a slowing economy on the industrial sector, which represents about 75% of our total sales,” Sandler said. “MSC continues to enhance its presence and grow sales to non-industrial customers and in the Large Customer Program. The current economic crisis has clearly impacted our visibility, as the longer-term effects of the credit market crisis and the duration of an economic downturn are unknown at this point.” Sandler said the company will focus on “what it can control.”
 
For the fourth quarter, the distributor reported sales of $448.6 million, up by 5.8% from the prior-year period. Profit was $50.5 million compared with profit of 47.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.
 
MSC Industrial Direct reaches its customers through a combination of 27 million direct-mail catalogs and CD-ROMs, 97 branch sales offices, 912 sales people, the Internet and associations with prominent B2B e-commerce portals.