1/15/2015 3:24:00 PM
NEWS BRIEFS
Fastenal Reports Steady Fastener Growth
2014 was a big year for the Fastenal Co.
After a “very challenging year” in 2013, Fastenal reported sales growth doubled in 2014, primarily from volume. Net sales rose 12.2% to $3.7 billion, impacted by slight inflationary price changes in non-fastener products and some price deflation in fastener products. Net earnings grew 10.1% to $494.1 million and EPS gained 10.6% to $1.67.
Those results included steady gains in the company’s fastener products. Fastenal reported 6.9% growth in fasteners during 2014, including 1.6% growth in the first quarter, 5.5% growth in Q2, 9.9% growth in Q3, and 11.4% growth in the final quarter of the year. The company achieved 1.6% growth in fasteners in 2013 and 7.8% fastener growth in 2012.
Fasteners totaled 39.2% of 2014 sales for Fastenal, down from 40.6% the previous year.
Overall Q4 sales gained 13.8% to $926.2 million, with net earnings up 19.3% to $118.4 million and EPS gaining 21.2% to $0.33.
During Q4, Fastenal made an initial foray into the aerospace market by acquiring Texas-based Av-Tech Industries, a wholesale distributor of aerospace fasteners, electronic components, and miscellaneous aircraft parts.
But growth comes at a price in today’s market, and Fastenal is no exception.
In early 2014, then-CEO Will Oberton said his biggest regret of 2013 related to hiring. When asked what he would have changed about 2013, Oberton said: “I would have started hiring sooner. We started accelerating our hiring in June. If I would have done that in January, I think the second half of the year would have looked different.”
That miscalculation may have cost Oberton his job. In December Oberton, 56, resigned as CEO, and the company’s board of directors promoted president Leland J. Hein. Oberton remains chairman of the company’s board of directors.
Since July 2013, Fastenal has added 2,032 people either into a store, or into a leadership role at the district or region level – for an overall workforce increase of 19.2%.
“As we enter 2015, we intend to expand the hours worked at our store locations and will resume the expansion of our headcount to support the future needs of our business and our customers,” the company stated.
Fastenal’s closed 74 stores in 2014, with overall store count dropping 1.9% to 2,637.
The company’s industrial vending program, FAST Solutions, installed 6,080 new machines in 2014, an increase of 14.9% over the previous year’s total.
During 2014, Fastenal co-founders Bob Kierlin and Steve Slaggie retired (see Fastener History section of GlobalFastenerNews.com).
Related Stories:
• Grainger Reports “Challenging” 2014 Results
• Fastenal OEM Sales Top 10% Growth
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