Business
Sales and earnings growth at Richelieu in the first quarter of 2010
Sales and earnings growth at Richelieu in the first quarter of 2010
About this update from Richelieu Hardware Ltd
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nMONTREAL, Mar. 25, 2010 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- /CNW Telbec/ -- Richelieu started 2010 strongly, recording very satisfactory growth for its first quarter ended February 28. This was achieved in its Canadian markets, especially Eastern and Central Canada which posted significant increases, whereas its U.S. markets are still in a slowdown. On December 1, 2009, Richelieu acquired substantially all of the net assets of Woodland Specialties, a distributor of hardware products, high-pressure laminates and finishing products based in Syracuse, New York State.\"For a first quarter, which is usually the year's weakest period, we achieved excellent growth in Canada in our two major markets, manufacturers and retailers. We increased our sales to manufacturers by 8%, which reflects our ability to take advantage of market opportunities thanks to the innovation and enhancement of product offering, our representatives' presence, the availability of inventories and our superior-quality service, the contribution of our website richelieu.com and our capacity to target the sales potential by customer. In addition, we are pleased with the positive impact of the efforts we made last year to expand our offering to and presence in the retailers market; they gave rise to a 19% sales growth in this market in Canada. Last year, we increased our display floor space at retailers, which contributed to our sales growth in this market. Conversely, in the United States, our sales declined by 9.2% due to the economic context, but we are confident about our strategy and are pursuing our market penetration efforts. We discontinued our ceramic distribution activities, which no longer met our profit criteria and were not part of our core business; combined with the measures implemented in 2009 to mitigate the effects of the downturn, this decision will have a positive impact on our profit margins in upcoming periods,\" indicated Richard Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer.NEXT DIVIDEND PAYMENTAt its meeting on March 25, 2010, the Board of Directors approved the payment of a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share. This dividend is payable on April 22, 2010 to shareholders of record as at April 8, 2010.ANALYSIS OF OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2010 COMPARED WITH THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2009Consolidated sales...