Financial Reports: Grainger, Transcat, Boise

2Q Sales Down, Earnings Up for Grainger

The Lab Safety division of industrial supplier Grainger (NYSE: GWW) reported a 7% increase in second-quarter sales. Excluding the Gempler’s catalog, however, which Grainger acquired in April, Lab Safety’s sales were down 2% for the quarter. Operating earnings fell 8%, due to higher catalog costs and expenses related to the integration of Gempler’s.

Overall, Chicago-based Grainger saw second-quarter sales dip 2%, to $1.17 billion from nearly $1.20 billion a year ago. But net earnings rose 3%, to $56.0 million.

Transcat Posts Profit Despite Sales Decline Fiscal first-quarter sales for Transcat (NasdaqSC: TRNS), a Rochester, NY-based manufacturer/marketer of test, measurement, and calibration products and services, fell nearly 11%. The company nonetheless turned around last year’s first-quarter loss.

For the three months ended June 28, Transcat netted $178,000 on revenue of $12.6 million. For the comparable period of last year, the cataloger had lost $6.6 million on sales of $14.2 million.

Mixed 2Q Results for Boise The Boise Office Solutions division of manufacturer/marketer Boise Cascade Corp. (NYSE: BCC) posted a 6% rise in second-quarter sales, to $905 million for the three months ended June 30. Operating income inched upward as well, to $23.9 million from $23.4 million a year ago. Sales of paper and other office supplies increased 1%, while sales of office furniture climbed 11% and sales of tech products rose 14%.

Total second-quarter sales for the company, which also manufactures and sells paper and lumber, increased 2%, to $1.93 billion from $1.89 billion last year. But Boise ended the quarter in the red, with a net loss of $3.9 million, compared with net income of $3.2 million the previous second quarter.

Boise announced on July 14 that it would acquire office supplies cataloger/retailer OfficeMax. It does not expect the deal to be completed before the fourth quarter of the year.