Grainger reported sales, including fasteners, increased 8% to $11.2 billion in 2018 “driven entirely by volume.” Operating earnings grew 12% to $1.2 billion and operating margin was up 40 basis points to 10.3%. Net earnings rose 32% to $823 million.

“Our key accomplishments included U.S. segment volume growth of 8 percent, a profitable fourth quarter for the Canadian business and double-digit revenue growth for our single channel businesses, all while reducing our cost structure across the organization,” stated CEO DG Macpherson.

Fourth quarter sales improved 5% to $2.8 billion, which included “a 4 percentage point increase from volume and a 1 percentage point increase in price, partially offset by 1 percentage point from holiday timing.”

Q4 operating earnings increased 23% to $290 million, while net earnings gained 32% to $219 million and operating margin rose 160 basis points to 10.5%. Web: Grainger.com