Paris-based electrical distributor Rexel Inc. reported sales of €2.8 billion (US$4.2 billion) in third quarter, down 19.4% from the prior-year period. Declines were due in part to copper prices; at constant copper prices, the decline would have been 16.6%.

 

Profit for the third quarter 2009 was down 17.3% from the prior year, at €28.6 million.

 

In the first nine months of 2009, sales were €8.4 billion (US$12.5 billion), down 11% from the prior-year period. Excluding acquisitions, sales were down 18.4%. Profit in the first nine months was €46.2 million, down from €293 million in the same period in 2008.

 

In Europe (59% of Rexel sales), sales were down 14.2%. Germany was strongest, with a decline of 3.9% supported by industrial sales and sales of solar panels. In the first nine months, sales in Europe were down 14.3%.

 

North America sales (30% of total) were down 30% in the third quarter. The U.S. saw the largest drop with a 34.8% decline. Canada sales fell 14% due to lower industrial activity in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as a slowdown in oilsands and related projects in Alberta.

 

In the first nine months, North America sales were €2.5 billion (US$3.72 billion), down 27.2% over the prior-year period. The U.S. was down 31.7% due to low residential construction levels, as well as weakened commercial and industrial end-markets, particularly steel, oil and gas, and paper mills. Branch closures accounted for a 4.5 percentage-point drop in sales for the period. In the first nine months, sales in Canada were down 10.1%.

 

Asia-Pacific sales were down 9.6% in the quarter; in the first nine months, sales were down 7.7%.