CHICAGO /PRNewswire/ -- Grainger (NYSE: GWW) has reported results for the 2014 second quarter which ended June 30, 2014. Sales of $2.5 billion increased 5 percent versus $2.4 billion in the 2013 second quarter. There were 64 selling days in the quarter, the same as in 2013. Net earnings for the quarter decreased 5 percent to $206 million versus $218 million in 2013. Earnings per share of $2.94 decreased 3 percent versus $3.03 in 2013.
During the quarter, the company recorded a $10 million after-tax, or $0.15 per share, charge related to the transition of its employee retirement plan in Europe from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, while simultaneously transferring the existing defined benefit obligation to a third party.
Adjusted earnings per share are as follows:
Three Months Ended June 30, 2014 2013 % Change
Diluted Earnings Per Share as reported: $2.94 $3.03 -3%
Retirement plan transition in Europe 0.15
Diluted Earnings Per Share as adjusted: $3.09 $3.03 2%
"We continue to be pleased with the performance of our U.S. business, including our three most recent acquisitions. The investments we are making in growth and infrastructure continue to drive share gain, particularly among our large, more complex customers who have fully embraced our value proposition," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Ryan. "We are also seeing strong growth from our single-channel businesses, which are meeting the less complex needs of smaller customers in Japan and the United States," Ryan added. "Even so, sluggish performance elsewhere dampened results. It was a challenging quarter in Canada due to a difficult macroeconomy, coupled with our investments in IT and supply chain. We are excited about the long term growth and margin prospects for Canada and are confident that these investments will enable this business to reach its full potential. In the Other Businesses, we are making progress to improve the health of the portfolio by driving better profitability, while evaluating markets to potentially downsize or exit." Ryan concluded, "Given our results to date, we have updated our sales and EPS guidance for the year." The company's previous 2014 guidance of 5 to 9 percent sales growth and earnings per share of $12.10 to $12.85 was originally issued on January 24, 2014. The company now expects 5 to 7 percent sales growth and earnings per share of $12.20 to $12.60, excluding the $0.15 per share charge for the retirement plan transition.
Company Sales increased 5 percent in the 2014 second quarter versus the prior year, including 2 percentage points from acquisitions, net of dispositions, and a 1 percentage point reduction from foreign exchange. Excluding acquisitions and foreign exchange, organic sales increased 4 percent driven by 5 percentage points from volume, partially offset by a 1 percentage point decline from the timing of Good Friday. In 2014, Good Friday fell in April versus 2013 when it
occurred in March.
The company's gross profit margin for the quarter decreased 0.9 percentage point versus the prior year to 43.1 percent, due primarily to unfavorable mix from the acquired businesses, faster growth with lower gross margin customers and lower gross profit margins from the international businesses. Operating expenses for the company increased 6 percent, driven by the following:
- $20 million in incremental growth and infrastructure spending;
- $14 million pre-tax for the retirement plan transition costs noted earlier;
- Incremental expenses from the acquired businesses; and
- $7 million related to the write-off of capitalized software development costs primarily for Canada and Mexico.
During the quarter, the company made the decision to extend its U.S. ERP system across North America as opposed to the previous plan to run two separate ERP instances. The decision to implement a single ERP instance led to the write-off of $7 million, or $0.06 per share, of capitalized software development costs tied to the multiple instance approach.
Company operating earnings of $341 million for the 2014 second quarter decreased 3 percent versus the prior year. Excluding the retirement transition, company operating earnings increased 1 percent and net earnings decreased 1 percent. Grainger has two reportable business segments, the United States and Canada, which represented approximately 88 percent of company sales for the quarter. The remaining operating units are included in Other Businesses and are not reportable segments.
United States Sales for the United States segment increased 7 percent in the 2014 second quarter versus the prior year. Results for the quarter included 2 percentage points from acquisitions, net of dispositions. Excluding acquisitions, organic sales increased 5 percent driven by 6 percentage points from volume, partially offset by a 1 percentage point decline from the timing of Good Friday. Sales growth to customers in the Heavy and Light Manufacturing, Retail, Natural Resources and Commercial customer end markets contributed to the sales increase in the quarter.
Operating earnings for the United States segment increased 8 percent in the quarter driven by the 7 percent sales growth and positive operating expense leverage, partially offset by lower gross profit margins. Gross profit margins for the quarter decreased 0.8 percentage point from unfavorable mix due to faster growth with lower margin customers and from the mix of lower gross margins from the acquired businesses. Operating expenses increased 3 percent including $19 million in incremental growth-related spending and the incremental expenses from the acquired businesses.
Canada Sales in the 2014 second quarter in Canada decreased 9 percent in U.S. dollars versus the prior year and were down 3 percent in local currency. The 3 percent sales decline consisted of 2 percentage points from the timing of Good Friday and a 1 percentage point decline from volume. Lower sales to the Construction, Mining, Oil and Gas, Government, Light Manufacturing and Reseller customer end markets more than offset growth to customers in the Commercial, Forestry, Utilities, Transportation, Heavy Manufacturing and Retail end markets. Operating earnings in Canada declined 48 percent in the 2014 second quarter and were down 45 percent in local currency. The earnings decrease was primarily driven by lower sales, a lower gross profit margin and negative operating expense leverage. The gross profit margin in Canada declined 2 percentage points versus the prior year primarily due to unfavorable foreign exchange from products sourced from the United States, inventory markdowns and higher freight costs. The increase in operating expenses was primarily driven by higher IT expenses along with some non-recurring costs. The decision during the quarter to extend the U.S. ERP instance resulted in the write-off of $4 million of software development costs related to a multiple instance approach. The company also spent an incremental $1 million on the implementation of the ERP system in Canada.
Other Businesses Sales for the Other Businesses increased 14 percent for the 2014 second quarter versus the prior year. The sales growth consisted of 16 percentage points from volume and price, partially offset by a 2 percentage points decline from unfavorable foreign exchange. The sales increase was primarily due to strong revenue growth from Zoro and the business in Japan, which more than offset modest sales declines in Europe and Latin America.
Operating earnings for the Other Businesses were roughly breakeven in the 2014 second quarter versus $13 million in the 2013 second quarter. Lower performance versus the prior year was primarily driven by the $14 million expense incurred for the retirement plan transition in Europe and $2 million for the write-off of capitalized software development costs for Mexico. The rationale for the retirement plan change was to eliminate the company's existing and future obligations under the defined benefit plan, align with market trends in the Netherlands and better manage employee benefits costs going forward. Other Other income and expense was a net $2.3 million expense in the 2014 second quarter versus a net $2.6 million expense in the 2013 second quarter. The tax rate in the quarter was 38.2 percent versus 36.5 percent in the 2013 quarter. The 2014 second quarter reflects a higher tax rate due to the effect of the retirement plan transition in Europe. Excluding the retirement plan transition, the effective tax rate for the 2014 second quarter was 37.7 percent. The 2013 second quarter tax rate reflected a benefit from a resolution of foreign tax matters in that period. Excluding this benefit, the effective tax rate for the 2013 second quarter was 37.3 percent. The company projects an effective tax rate for the year 2014 of approximately 37.5 to 37.8 percent, excluding the effect of the retirement plan transition.
Cash Flow Operating cash flow in the 2014 second quarter was $161 million versus $210 million in the 2013 second quarter. Cash flow in the 2014 second quarter was lower than the previous year primarily due to higher inventory purchases and higher tax payments. The company used cash from operations and cash on hand to fund capital expenditures and return cash to shareholders. Capital expenditures were $90 million in the quarter versus $40 million in the second quarter of 2013. Grainger also returned $161 million to shareholders in the quarter through $76 million in dividends and $85 million to buy back 334,000 shares of stock. As of June 30, 2014, the company had 9.9 million shares remaining on its share repurchase authorization.
Year-to-Date For the six months ended June 30, 2014, sales of $4.9 billion increased 5 percent versus $4.7 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2013. There were 127 selling days in the first six months of 2014, the same number of selling days in 2013. Net earnings decreased 2 percent to $423 million versus $429 million in the first half of 2013. Earnings per share for the six months increased 1 percent to $6.00 versus $5.97 for 2013. Excluding the charge in the 2014 second quarter, net earnings increased 1 percent and earnings per share increased 3 percent to $6.15.
