Electrocomponents reports growth across all locations

Distributor Electrocomponents has reported results to the end of March 2004 with sales and profit up slightly.

The firm had sales of £759.3m in the year, up 2.1 per cent and pre-tax profit of £106.9m, up 5.9 per cent. By the end of the year all of the firm’s businesses were in growth.

“In the second half of the year, market conditions improved and our sales, profit and cash flow performance benefited. Sales growth rose towards the end of the year, most notably in North America and the UK, and the group exited the year growing at about five per cent,” said the firm’s chairman, Bob Lawson.

He added that the improved market conditions have continued into the firm’s next financial year.

In the UK sales fell by just under one per cent at its RS division. The firm said the fall was due to the “continued erosion of customers in the manufacturing sector”. However, the rate of UK decline fell through the year and actually finished at a growth rate of about three per cent.

It was a similar story in mainland Europe with a decline turning to growth by the end of the year.

In North America sales returned to growth at the firm’s Allied division and in Japan there was strong growth of 28.4 per cent.