US fastener giant Fastenal saw sales rise 13.1% to $1,267.9 million in Q2 2018, with profit up 10.6% to $617.7 million, compared like-for-like with Q2 2017.
Fastener products represented 35.4% of sales in the second quarter of 2018. Daily sales of fastener products grew 11.1%.
Industrial vending and Onsite locations were growth drivers, as were - to a lesser extent - price rises, following "modest increases" implemented last year to offset inflation in the marketplace.
Higher freight costs and changes in product and customer mix adversely affected the gross profit percentage. Relative to Q1 2018, Q2 gross profit percentage was flat.
5,537 industrial vending devices were signed in Q2 2018, up 13.4% on Q2 2017. Installed device count on 30 June 2018 was 76,069, up 14.3% on 30 June 2017. Vending sales grew over 20%.
81 new Onsite locations (dedicated sales and service from within or close to a customer's facility) were signed in Q2, up 19.1% on Q2 2017. Fastenal has 761 active sites on 30 June 2018, up 56.6% on 30 June 2017. Fastenal plans to make 360-385 Onsite signings in 2018.
Fastenal also included insight into the overall marketplace in its statement: "Demand began to improve in the first quarter of 2017, and strengthened in the second quarter of 2017 when sales to 68 of our top 100 customers were growing. That pattern has continued with sales to 72 of our top 100 customers growing in the third and fourth quarters of 2017, and sales to 78 of our top 100 customers growing in the first quarter of 2018. In the second quarter of 2018, sales to 80 of our top 100 customers grew. Sales to our non-national account customers continued to grow at a mid- to high-single digit rate in the second quarter of 2018."
The firm recently committed to expansion in Mississippi.
