Beacon sees strong start, soft finish in Q1

Herndon, Va.-based Beacon Roofing Supply celebrated solid top-line growth during a quarter that started fast and finished with some tough weather conditions.

The company posted first-quarter sales of $552.1 million, up 7.5% from $513.7 million in the same quarter last year. Net income slipped to $15.0 million, down from $18.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

“We started the quarter exceptionally strong, but ended the month of December on a soft note as a result of some very challenging weather conditions in our Northern regions,” said president and CEO Paul Isabella.

The company reported a strong rebound in commercial roofing, but also a “challenging pricing environment” that continued to drive down gross margins in the quarter. 

Beacon also said it expects to exceed its expansion plans and roll out as many as 25 branches in the current fiscal year.

“We believe market pricing will improve in 2014 as demand increases as we exit the winter months, and we intend to continue to leverage our operating expenses as we grow our revenue base,” Isabella said.

The distributor of roofing materials and complementary building products currently operates 240 branches in 39 states in the United States and six provinces in Canada.