Huge Q4 for Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams Company reported fourth quarter 2017 sales increased 43% to $3.98 billion from fourth quarter 2016 sales of $2.78 billion.
Sherwin-Williams attributed the sales growth to higher paint sales volume in its Americas Group and the acquisition of Valspar last June.
For the full year, sales grew 26.4% to $14.98 billion from 2016 full year sales of $11.85 billion. Excluding Valspar, sales from Sherwin-Williams core operations rose 6.9% for the fourth quarter and 5.6% for 2017.
Net sales in The Americas Group increased 8.8% to $9.12 billion in the year and increased 8.9% to $2.19 billion in the quarter due primarily to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end market segments and selling price increases, the company reported.
Net sales of the Consumer Brands Group increased 41.1% to $2.15 billion in the year and increased 89.1% to $571.6 million in the quarter due primarily to the inclusion of Valspar sales since last June. Valspar sales increased consumer brands net sales 49.4% in the year and 95.9% in the quarter.
The Cleveland, Ohio-based paint and coatings manufacturer also reported a fourth quarter net income of $897 million for the quarter compared to a net income of $203 million in the fourth quarter 2016. For the year, Sherwin-Williams reported a net income of $1.77 billion compared to a net income of $1.32 billion for fiscal 2016.
“2017 was a year of record sales, net income, earnings per share, cash and EBITDA, but it will best be remembered as the year in which we joined forces with Valspar,” John Morikis, Sherwin-Williams chairman, president, and CEO, said in a statement issued by the company.
“The enormous amount of effort and energy invested over the past seven months in bringing these two great companies together, strengthening our customer relationships, defining the right organizational structure and building momentum in every line of business is transforming Sherwin-Williams into a faster growing, financially stronger and more profitable enterprise,” Morikis added.