“May was a particularly strong month, with even
the lowest quartile showing year-over-year growth which is a rare occurrence,”
said association economist Andrew Duguay.
May sales for HARDI members were up
17.9 percent, the best growth since November 2010.
The figures are from the Heating,
Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International’s Targeted and
Regional Economic News for Distribution Strategies report. Sales were up in all
seven U.S. regions; six had double-digit increases.
“May was a particularly strong month with even the
lowest quartile showing year-over-year growth which is a rare occurrence,” said
HARDI economist Andrew Duguay. “Eighty-four percent of members reported a
positive May ’12 vs. May ’11, suggesting the recovery among distributors is
broadening. Business cycle momentum is clearly positive at this point.”
Another measure, “Days sales outstanding” (how
quickly customers pay their bills) declined after increaseing eight of the last
nine months. Distributor productivity, reflected by sales per employee, shot up
26 percent in May.
“There certainly haven’t been many months showing
these kinds of growth numbers for quite some time,” said HARDI Executive Vice
President and COO Talbot Gee. “Strong sales and an early start to the season
have started to deplete inventories so I wouldn’t be surprised to see
aggressive restocking of value products and repair components.”
