Rexel’s 1Q sales rise 1 percent
Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 5/15/2008 8:08:00 AM
First-quarter sales for Rexel SA rose 1.2 percent to $3.9 billion, compared with $3.85 billion during the same period last year. Organic sales rose 3.1 percent.Net income for the French electrical distributor rose 27.2 percent to $96.8 million, compared with $76 million during the first quarter of 2007.
Rexel said its roughly $4.8 billion acquisition of Dutch rival Hagemeyer closed March 25 and the integration and sale of some Hagemeyer assets to French peer Sonepar are on schedule.
“Rexel’s solid performance … in terms of organic growth and profitability demonstrates the underlying strength of the company. The growth in sales on a constant basis in all geographies, including North America, reflects the resilience of the industrial and non-residential related commercial markets throughout the world. In a challenging environment, Rexel is fully focused on achieving its objectives for 2008 and on increasing the profitability of the recently-acquired European activities of Hagemeyer,” chairman and CEO Jean-Charles Pauze said.
Rexel said it will retain Hagemeyer’s operations in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, all but six branches in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Some of the Dutch distributor’s Ireland operations will be sold to meet European Commission anti-trust requirements. Rexel said it expects to gain about $2.5 billion from the sale of Hagemeyer assets to Sonepar.
In North America, sales grew 1.2 percent as operating expenses were reduced by 1 percent in “due to the ongoing U.S. cost reduction plan,” the company said in a statement. .
Rexel also said it agreed to acquire new Zealand’s Egley Electrical Ltd., which has two branches in the Wellington area, 32 employees and about $11.6 million in annual sales.
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