We're in the midst of another fiscal earnings reporting period, with many well-known industrial distributors and suppliers posting their latest quarterly performance figures. Here's a roundup of the key numbers posted by Parker Hannifin, Rockwell Automation, Ingersoll Rand, Illinois Tool Works, Anixter International, Praxair and National Oilwell Varco.
Parker Hannifin
Cleveland, OH-based motion control products supplier Parker Hannifin reported its 2018 third quarter results on Thursday, showing that sales jumped 20 percent year-over-year (YoY) to a company record $3.75 billion, with organic sales up approximately 8 percent. The company's Q3 total profit likewise surged to $366.1 million, compared to $238.8 million a year earlier. EBITDA margins increased 120 basis points YoY to 17.6 percent.
"Industrial North America incremental margins were impacted by higher sales volume, which required us to run consolidating plants for longer than expected," Parker Hannifin chairman and CEO Tom Williams said. "Our productivity metrics for these plants improved as the quarter progressed and we expect steady improvement in Industrial North America incremental margins as plant closures continue during the rest of calendar year 2018. Overall, we are very pleased with the progress we are making.”
By segment, Parker's Industrial segment posted a Q3 sales gain of 25 percent in North America to $1.8 billion as orders increased 11 percent, with operating profit up 23 percent to $280.7 million. Internationally, Industrial sales increased 23 percent to $1.4 billion as orders increased 8 percent, with operating profit up 34 percent to $205.3 million. Parker's Aerospace segment saw sales bump up 4 percent YoY to $598.4 million as orders increased 17 percent, with operating profit up 33 percent to $106.7 million.
Rockwell Automation
Milwaukee, WI-based Rockwell Automation posted its 2018 Q2 results on Wednesday, showing that sales of $1.65 billion increased 6.2 percent YoY, with organic sales up 3.5 percent. The company's total Q2 profit of $227.4 million increased from $189.5 million a year earlier. By segment, Rockwell's Control Products & Solutions sales of $882.8 million increased 5.7 percent YoY, while Architecture & Software sales of $768.4 million increased 6.9 percent.
"Demand for the quarter was fairly broad-based across regions and verticals, enabling us to achieve organic sales growth of 3.5 percent, as we expected," Rockwell chairman and CEO Blake Moret said. "Growth was led by heavy industries, including oil and gas, mining, metals and semiconductor."
Ingersoll Rand
Swords, Ireland-based Ingersoll Rand posted its 2018 Q1 results on Wednesday, showing that sales increased 13 percent YoY to $3.4 billion, while total profit of $120.4 million grew from $117.1 million a year earlier. In the company's Industrial segment, which includes power tools, fluid management equipment, material handling systems and compressed air and gas — Q1 sales increased 15 percent to $775 million. Ingersoll Rand's total Q1 profit of $120.4 million increased from $117.1 million a year earlier.
Illinois Tool Works
Glenview, IL-based Illinois Tool Works reported its 2018 Q1 results on Thursday, showing that sales grew approximately 8 percent YoY to $3.7 billion, with organic sales up 2.6 percent. The company's Q1 total profit of $652 million was well above $536 from a year earlier, while Q1 operating profit of $903 million increased 12 percent. All seven business segments had YoY organic growth, led by Welding ($423 million, +7.6 percent), Test & Measurement and Electronics ($543 million, +7.6 percent) and Construction Products ($428 million, +2.9 percent), followed by Automotive OEM ($901 millon, +1.0 percent), Specialty Products ($485 million, +0.5 percent), Food Equipment ($527 million, +0.4 percent) and Polymers & Fluids ($442 million, +0.3 percent).
Anixter
Glenview, IL-based electrical products distributor Anixter International reported Q1 sales of $2 billion, up 3.6 percent YoY, with organic sales up 1.6 percent. The company's Q1 profit of $32.1 million improved from $30.9 million of a year earlier.
By segment, Anixter's Network & Security Solutions sales increased 1 percent YoY to $994.8 million, with adjusted organic sales up 1.9 percent; Electrical & Electronic Solutions sales increased 7.8 percent to $568.4 million, with adjusted organic sales up 3.7 percent; and Utility Power Solutions improved 4.6 percent to $401 million, with organic sales up 4.0 percent.
"While organic growth in both EES and UPS was consistent with our expectations when we provided our outlook for the quarter, the sales performance of NSS was below our expectations," Anixter CEO Bob Eck said. "We have experienced a healthy pick up in NSS project activity in recent months, however the timing of major projects remains weighted to the second quarter and back half of the year. Turning to our overall results, the quarter presented more challenges than we anticipated, caused by the combination of pricing pressure on our revenues and inflationary pressures on our operating expenses, most notably, higher freight costs."
Anixter also announced it will acquire security businesses in Australia and New Zealand for approximately $151 million. The unnamed businesses have a combined trailing 12-month revenue of approximately $114 million, with the transaction expected to close in Q2.
Praxair
Danbury, CT-based industrial gas supplier Praxair reported its 2018 Q1 results on Thursday, showing that sales of $2.9 billion increased approximately 10 percent YoY, with organic sales up approximately 7 percent — driven by price attainment and higher volumes across all segments and end markets. North America Q1 sales of $1.6 billion increased 7 percent YoY. The company's profit of $462 million increased 19 percent.
"The 10 percent sales growth reflects solid recovery across all major end-markets and geographies, led by Asia and North America," Praxair chairman and CEO Steve Angel said. "As global industrial production rates continue to rise, we are well positioned to capture that growth and leverage it into higher operating margins."
National Oilwell Varco
Houston-based National Oilwell Varco posted Q1 sales of $1.8 billion, up 3 percent YoY, while the company took a net loss of $68 million. Sales in NOV's Rig Technologies segment fell 17 percent to $483 million; sales in Wellbore Technologies jumped 28 percent to $711 million; and sales in Completion & Production Solutions bumped up 3 percent to $670 million.
“During the first quarter of 2018 NOV benefitted from growing demand for short-cycle consumables and services in North America as oilfield fundamentals continued to strengthen," NOV chairman, president and CEO Clay Williams said. "Unfortunately, however, the protracted budgeting cycle we saw early in the year led to a slower-than-anticipated start in our capital equipment businesses, and softness in our Eastern Hemisphere operations. This more than offset improvements in North America, snapping our six-quarter streak of steadily improving results. We expect to be back on track soon, though, as most of the capital equipment deliveries that were deferred by customers at the end of the quarter were accepted early in the second quarter, giving us confidence that the general upward trajectory of business will resume in the second quarter. Scarcity is returning to many corners of the oilfield, and we’ve seen good uptake on technologies we’ve been introducing through the downturn, all while the oil supply and demand picture continues to tighten."
