Distributor says Europe driving sales growth

Avnet sees European business grow as third quarter revenues increase by 13 per cent over last year’s figure. The broadline distributor said revenues for the quarter, ended April 3, were $2.64bn which was 3 per cent better than the previous quarter.

It said growth was driven by all three geographic regions with Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) recording the highest sequential sales growth of 36 per cent. The Americas region grew 15 per cent and Asia grew 4 per cent.

“The increase in EM sales across all geographies demonstrates that company is enjoying a significant uplift from the technology industry recovery,” said Avnet CEO, Roy Vallee.

Operating income more than doubled to $73.9m in the quarter compared with $36.2m a year ago. After charges, net income for the quarter was $26.7m.

The distributor’s main Electronics Marketing (EM) business group saw sales grow 20 per cent on the previous quarter and 24 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

“In addition to continued robust year-over-year growth in Asia, we are encouraged by the double digit growth on both a sequential and year-over-year basis in EMEA and the Americas. These growth rates, coupled with another quarter of strengthening orders, indicate that the markets we serve are continuing to improve,” said Vallee.

The firm’s Technology Solutions (TS) business saw sales fall to $1.05bn.