Houston-based NOW Inc., which does business as DistributionNOW, reported its 2016 third quarter fiscal performance on Wednesday, led by continued large declines in year-over-year sales and a net loss.
DNOW was No. 12 on Industrial Distribution's 2016 Big 50 List.
The company posted Q3 sales of $520 million, down 30.9 percent from a year earlier, but up 4 percent from Q2. Sales in Q2 were down 33.2 percent year-over-year.
DNOW took a net loss of $56 million in Q3, compared to a loss of $224 million a year earlier and a loss of $44 million in Q2.
"Emerging from what we hope was the bottom of this cycle in the second quarter, North American rig count grew in the third quarter," said NOW Inc. president and CEO Robert Workman. "We posted improved performance as warehousing, selling and administrative costs and capital expenditures were lower than forecast while working capital efficiency gains are still proving fruitful and enabling us to produce free cash flow.
"International offshore softness and seasonal holiday implications suggest a choppy recovery. Our focus remains on deepening customer and supplier relationships, calibrating our business to the market and further leveraging legacy and acquired businesses to strengthen and expand our competitive position in the market."
By geographic segment:
- U.S. Q3 sales of $372 million were down 25 percent year-over-year, and down 36 percent when excluding acquisitions. Total sales outplaced the U.S. rig count decline of 45 percent during the same period. Total sales were up 10 percent from Q2 overall.
- Canada Q3 sales of $67 million were down 29 percent year-over-year, outpacing a rig count decline of 37 percent. Total sales were up 22 percent from Q2.
- International Q3 sales of $81 million were down 50 percent year-over-year and down 26 percent from Q2, outpacing international rig count declines of 17 and one percent, respectively.