Airgas sales and earnings up
Airgas said its third quarter sales were $1.15 billion, an increase of 12% over the prior year.
Business trends reflect continued volume growth across the company's customer base, with particular strength in large manufacturing, petrochemical, and energy customers. Same-store sales grew 9% in the quarter, with hardgoods up 14% and gas and rent up 7%.
Net earnings were $72.3 million, or 97 cents per share, compared to $55.8 million, or 80 cents per share, in the same period last year.
"We continue to see evidence of steady economic growth in U.S. manufacturing, as well as in our petrochemical and energy customers," said Airgas chief executive officer Peter McCausland. "Strong growth in welding and automation equipment revenue is outpacing the remainder of our hardgoods portfolio, which is an encouraging indicator of future activity in our industrial customer base."
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.
