Jason Sandefur

Fasteners and plumbing products boosted Grainger sales by $349 million in 2007, helping to increase revenue 9% to a record $6.4 billion. Grainger has added more than 38,000 fastener products to its catalog since 2006. Full year net income increased 10% to $420 million.
Branch-based sales, which include revenue from the U.S., Mexico and China, climbed 8.9% to $5.35 billion in 2007, while operating income gained 12.8% to $669.4 million. Branch-based sales during the final quarter of 2007 grew 9% to $1.33 billion, with operating earnings improving 3% to $164.4 million.
Sales at Canada-based Acklands-Grainger increased 12.6% to $636.5 million during 2007, and earnings more than doubled to $44.2 million. Q4 revenue jumped 25% to $171.7 million, while income more than quadrupled to $14.5 million. Web: grainger.com �2008 FastenerNews.com