Ace Hardware revenues up 3.6% in 2012

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. posted fiscal 2012 revenues of $3.8 billion, up 3.6% from the previous year. 

The co-op’s net income of $81.8 million increased 5.3% for the year.

“We are very pleased with our fiscal 2012 results as revenues and net income were both higher than last year and our plan,” said Ray Griffith, Ace CEO, who will be replaced by John Venhuizen as CEO, effective March 31.

In the fourth quarter, the company’s net income of $22.4 million was up 16.7%. Fourth-quarter total revenues were down 1.0%, while fourth-quarter wholesale merchandise revenues to comparable domestic stores declined 0.6%.

Pointing to the two major co-op transactions of recent months, Ray Griffith said Ace is better positioned “for future growth and profitability with the acquisition of Westlake Ace Hardware and the sale of our paint manufacturing assets to Valspar.”

Ace paid about $90 million for Westlake. The co-op sold its paint assets for about $45 million.

Ace added 159 new domestic stores and canceled 127 domestic stores in 2012 -- a net gain of 32 stores. The co-op’s total domestic store count at the end of 2012 stood at 4,104. 

On the international front, Ace’s business decreased 10.7% in the fourth quarter, due to lower sales to retailers in the Latin America and Asia markets. In the 2011 fourth quarter, international wholesale merchandise sales increased 10.2%.