London-based global electronics distributor Premier Farnell saw second-quarter sales growth of 3%, despite a more challenging North American market.
Revenue was 178.9 pounds (US$363.3 million) in the second quarter and 362.5 million pounds (US$736M) in the first half.
Total earnings per share were up 13% in the first half.
We continue to make good progress with the rigorous implementation of our business strategy and are especially pleased with the 30% increase in Web sales in the quarter and our success in winning major new franchises,” CEO Harriet Green said.
“While market conditions in North America in the second quarter were rather more challenging than in the first quarter, we delivered growth across all divisions with double-digit growth in pre-tax profit and earnings per share, at constant exchange rates. The start of the third quarter has seen improving year-on-year sales growth compared to the second quarter.”
The distributor plans to continue investment in international markets. The company also added 50,000 new products in the first half of the year.
Premier Farnell has operations in 21 countries with customers in more than 100. It stocks in excess of 500,000 electronic products, has access to 4 million more and represents 3,000 manufacturer brands. Companies within the Premier Farnell Group include Farnell, Newark, CPC Premier Electronics, Farnell-Newark, MCM, Akron Brass, TPC Wire & Cable and Cadillac Electric.
