Fastenal sales up 1.5 percent
Fastenal Company reported sales for the third quarter were $995.2 million, a 1.5 percent gain from $980.8 million reported in the same period last year.
Net earnings of $136.5 million, or 47 cents per share, increased from $133.3 million, or 45 cents, in last year's third quarter.
Sales for the first nine months of the year were $2.94 billion, a 5 percent increase from $2.8 billion in the same period last year. Net earnings for the nine-month period were $404.5 million, or $1.38 per share, compared to $375.8 million, or $1.27 per share in 2014.
"After several years of holding back on store openings and even contracting our total store base, we plan to expand our pace of store openings in 2016 with a goal of opening 60 to 75 new stores," the company said in a prepared statement.
"We are seeing a very strong pace of national account signings. In the first nine months of 2015, we are on pace to sign more new contracts (defined as new customer accounts with a multi-site contract) with national account customers in 2015 than in each of the last three calendar years," the company said.
September sales dip
In a separate announcement, Fastenal said that sales in September $329.2 million, a 0.3 percent drop from $330.2 million in September 2014. Daily sales of $15.67 million compared to $15.72 million last year. Sales to manufacturing customers were down by 1 percent for the month, while sales to non-residental construction customers fell by 2.6 percent during the month.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Joyce Lansdale and Vallen. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and David Kahle, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
