Fastenal 4Q Profit Rises on Increased Demand

By Carlo Martuscelli

Fastenal Co. (FAST) on Thursday reported an 11% rise in fourth-quarter profit on improved sales, which were buoyed by underlying market demand as well as contributions from its industrial vending and onsite locations businesses.

The Winona, Minn.-based industrial supply company earned a quarterly profit of $168.8 million, or 59 cents a share, compared with $152.4 million, or 53 cents, for the same period last year. Sales rose to $1.23 billion from $1.09 billion.

The company said that gross profit as a percentage of sales in the quarter was 47.7%, a 110 basis point decline. It attributed the decrease to inflation, higher freight costs, and the impact of customer and product mix on margins.

Fastenal said it sees net capital expenditures costs in 2019 in the range of $195 million to $225 million, which would represent growth of between 17% to 35% on the year before. It attributed this to planned spending on property and equipment to expand hub capacity, vending devices, and hub vehicles.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 17, 2019 07:31 ET (12:31 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.