Grainger reported sales, including fasteners, for the third quarter of 2018 increased 7.4% to $2.8 billion, driven by a 7 percentage point increase from volume and 1 percentage point increase in price, partially offset by a 1 percentage point decline from foreign exchange and the impact of hurricanes.

Q3 operating earnings dropped 32% to $189 million, with adjusted EPS up 44% to $4.19, due primarily to higher sales, operating expense leverage and a lower tax rate.

“The third quarter represented another solid quarter of profitable growth across the business,” said CEO DG Macpherson. “Even though we lapped the 2017 U.S. pricing changes during the quarter, we saw continued strong momentum and share gains from large and medium customers.”

Sales during the first nine months of 2018 gained 8.5% to $8.46 billion, with operating earnings up 8.6% to $867.9 million and net earnings up 31% to $603.6 million. Web: Grainger.com