Sherwin-Williams sales grows
Sherwin-Williams (SHW), reported first quarter increases despite raw material availability issues. There were more architectural gallons produced in March than any prior month in company history, said the firm.
The Cleveland-based company reported that consolidated net sales increased 7.4% in the quarter to $5.00 billion, compared with $4.65 billion in Q1 of the previous year. Gross profit was down 2.8%.
“Our team delivered results in line with our expectations in an environment characterized by strong demand, ongoing cost inflation, and choppy raw material availability that improved meaningfully in the final weeks of the quarter,” said Chairman and CEO John G. Morikis.
“In The Americas Group, sales increased in all professional customer segments, led by protective and marine, property maintenance, new residential and residential repaint, and backlogs remain strong. While our Consumer Brands Group faced a challenging prior year comparison, the Group’s sales in North America were nearly flat as we continued to focus on supporting key retail partners and growing our ‘Pros Who Paint’ initiative,” he said.
“The Performance Coatings Group delivered double-digit sales growth driven by both strong volume and pricing. All businesses and regions in the Group generated growth, led by our packaging and coil divisions. At quarter end, our architectural inventory gallons significantly improved in our distribution centers and our North American paint stores,” said the CEO.
In Q1 segments, The Americas Group (TAG) segment sales increased 5.6% to $2.64 billion from $2.50 billion in the previous year’s Q1. The company said net sales in TAG increased due primarily to sales increases in all professional contractor end markets.
The Performance Coatings segment sales increased 20.4% due to higher sales in all end markets, primarily attributable to selling price increases, and sales volume growth in the firm’s Packaging and Coil businesses. The Consumer Brands Group lost 10.1% due primarily to the Wattyl divestiture, lower sales outside of North America, and challenging prior year comparisons, partially offset by selling price increases, said the company.
The Bottom Line: Sherwin-Williams sales for the first quarter moved ahead more than 7% company-wide to $5 billion.
What the CEO said: “We delivered sequential improvement in consolidated gross margin and segment margins in all our businesses. Our margins remained under pressure on a year over year basis, as significant pricing actions previously announced in all businesses have not yet fully caught up to offset highly elevated raw material costs,” said Morikis.
Company info: Click HERE to read the Q1 2022 financial report from Sherwin-Williams.