Industrial supply giant Motion saw its sales increase by 12% in the first quarter of the year while its profit jumped by nearly 40%.
Genuine Parts Co., the distributor’s parent company, said Thursday that the industrial parts business posted $2.3 billion in quarterly sales in its latest earnings report, up 11.9% from the $2 billion in the first quarter of 2022 — the first report following Motion’s acquisition of Kaman Distribution Group.
Motion reported a 12.1% increase in comparable sales; a 0.6% boost from acquisitions was negated by a 0.8% impact from foreign currency. The company’s profits, meanwhile, jumped 39.1% year-over-year to $262 million, and its 11.6% profit margin was up 230 basis points over that span.
GPC executives touted an eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in comparable sales and the 11th consecutive period with expanded margins for the Motion business.
GPC, in total, reported a better-than-expected $5.8 billion in sales and $304 million in net income; its automotive division, which includes NAPA Auto Parts retail stores, posted a 7% increase in sales, but its profit remained flat and its profit margin dipped by 60 basis points.
The company raised its full-year forecast for diluted earnings per share, but its 4% to 6% sales growth estimate for both Motion and the company as a whole remained unchanged.
Motion was no. 2 on ID's most recent Big 50 list of top North American industrial distributors.
"Our performance was a clear example of how our multi-year strategic transformation to a global automotive and industrial company is a competitive advantage that distinguishes GPC in the marketplace,” GPC Chairman and CEO Paul Donahue said in a statement.
