Metalworking and MRO products distributor MSC Industrial Supply reported its 2020 second quarter financial results on Wednesday, showing an accelerated decrease in year-over-year sales as international factory shutdowns hurt demand.
MSC reported Q2 sales of $786 million, down 4.5 percent year-over-year (YoY), while operating profit of $78 million fell 19 percent and total profit of $55.5 million fell 19 percent. Those figures follow Q1 sales of $824 million that were down 1.0 percent YoY.
“We continue to progress on our journey to reposition MSC as a mission-critical partner on the plant floor. In the near-term, however, our focus is on navigating the company through the COVID-19 crisis, and we have launched a company-wide business continuity effort to do so,” said Erik Gershwind, MSC president and CEO. “Our number one priority is the health and safety of our associates and their families, our customers, and our other partners. We have instituted enhanced safety procedures, including use of additional protective equipment, frequent cleanings of our facilities, and stay-at-home policies for associates who can work from home. Given we are providing essential services to many organizations on the front lines, we do not plan to shut down our customer fulfillment centers. We will, of course, follow the guidance of health officials, and we are in close contact with them across our operating footprint.”
Is your company an industrial distributor? Take ID's 2020 Survey of Distributor Operations and be entered to win one of five $10 AmEx gift cards. Information and survey link here.
Noted in MSC’s Q2 report:
By month in Q2, MSC had the following total sales and average daily sales:
- January - $267 million, -3.0% YoY
- February - $267 million, -4.6% YoY
- March - $330 million, -5.8% YoY (preliminary)
By customer type, MSC's Q1 sales to manufacturing customers declined 3.7 percent YoY, and dipped 1.0 percent to non-manufacturing customers, compared to declines of 1.3 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, in Q1 2020.
Of MSC’s $786 million Q2 sales, $479 million, or 60.9 percent, came via e-commerce, up from 60.7 percent in Q1.
MSC ended Q2 2020 with 2,356 field sales associates, essentially flat compared to Q1. MSC ended Q2 with a total company headcount of 6,632, also flat.
