Business
Richelieu begins 2006 on a strong note with solid growth and three acquisitions
Richelieu begins 2006 on a strong note with solid growth and three acquisitions.
About this update from Richelieu Hardware Ltd
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------\n- Consolidated sales increase by 8.9% and net earnings by 10.0%.\n \n- Sales in the United States post an increase of 23.0% (in U.S. dollars)\n from internal growth and account for 12% of total sales.\n\n- Three acquisitions close in the first quarter - two in Canada and one\n on the U.S. East Coast.\n\n- Richelieu ends the period with an excellent financial position, with\n almost no debt, cash of $4.6 million and working capital of\n $100.5 million.\n\n- The quarterly dividend rises 20% to $0.06 per share as at January 25, \n 2006.\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nTSX: RCH\n\nMONTREAL, March 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Richelieu announces its results for the\nfirst quarter ended February 28, 2006. \"The three acquisitions made at the\nbeginning of this year add about $20 million to our sales on an annualized\nbasis, and we will integrate them while leveraging their potential through our\nnetwork and organization. We are also pleased with our results, especially\nsince they reflect solid growth over the first three months of 2005 which had\nposted a strong 17.6% increase in sales. The kitchen cabinet manufacturers and\nresidential and commercial woodworking segments yielded an excellent\ncontribution during the period. Although the first quarter is historically our\nslowest because of the end-of-year holiday period, our North American\ndistribution operations achieved strong sales growth of 9.8% and their EBITDA\nrose 13%. In the United States, our distribution sales grew by 26.5% (in U.S.\ndollars) and their profitability is steadily improving,\" indicated Richard\nLord, President and Chief Executive Officer.\nConsolidated sales totalled $82.9 million, up 8.9% over the corresponding\nperiod of 2005. Of this increase, 5.7% was internal growth and 3.2% came from\nthe acquisitions made during the period, mainly Atlantic Countertops Limited\n(Nova Scotia), which was acquired on December 5, 2005 and contributed to\nresults for 11 weeks.\nSales from distribution operations amounted to $79.2 million, up 9.8%\nover $72.1 million in the equivalent period the previous year. Such operations\naccounted for 95.6% of consolidated sales, compared with 94.8% for the\ncorresponding quarter of 2005. Cedan and Menuiserie des Pi...