10/13/2011 12:54:00 PM
NEWS BRIEFS
Manufacturing Uptick Boosts Fastenal Sales
Fastenal Co. reported net sales rose 20.4% to $726.74 million during the third quarter of 2011, boosted by an increase in OEM revenue. Third-quarter pre-tax earnings gained 28.7% to $155.3 million, while net earnings grew 29.1% to $96.8 million.
“The 2011 and 2010 growth was more pronounced in our industrial production business … and less pronounced in the maintenance portion of our manufacturing business,” the company stated.
Winona, MN-based Fastenal got a lift from its vending machine program, achieving a five-fold increase in the number of installed machines to 1,723 during Q3, compared to 351 installed in the third quarter of 2010.
“We are pleased with the ramp-up in our ability to install machines,” Fastenal stated.
Nine-month net sales improved 22% to $2.07 billion, while pre-tax earnings climbed 34.4% to $434.3 million and net earnings increased 35.1% to $270.45 million.
During the first nine months of 2011 Fastenal opened 94 new stores — off the pace of the 150 to 200 new stores the company intended to establish this year. Fastenal moderated its new store forecast to a range of 115 to 125 in total by year’s end, indicating the slowdown was due in part “to the good results we are experiencing with our automated solutions (industrial vending) rollout.”
Fastenal closed 18 stores during the first three quarters of 2011.
Fastenal’s full-time workforce at the end of September totaled 12,703 employees — a 17% increase over the third quarter of 2010. The company has added 1,596 jobs during 2011, including 567 in the past three months. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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