Fastenal sales up 10.4 percent
Fastenal reported that its third-quarter sales increased 10.4% to $802.6 million.
Earnings for the quarter rose 12.9% to $109.3 million. For the first nine months of the year, sales increased by 14.9% to $2.4 million, while earnings for the period increased by 19% to $321.8 million.
"Our FAST Solutions (industrial vending) operation is a rapidly expanding component of our business. We believe industrial vending is the next logical chapter in the Fastenal story, we also believe it has the potential to be transformative to industrial distribution, and that we have a 'first mover' advantage," according to a company statement.
In 2012, Fastenal reached its annual goal of installing 10,000 machines in July, and by the end of September, operated 17,013 industrial vending machines.
"During the first nine months of 2012, we installed 9,560 new machines, an increase of 128.3% since December 2011," the company said.
Fastenal currently operates 2,650 stores, an increase of 2.8% since December 2011, and expects to open approximately 50 to 100 stores in 2013.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The May/June issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about GHX Industrial. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
