Maintenance repair and operations supplies merchant MSC Industrial Direct turned in a solid third quarter. For the three months ended May 26, the Melville, NY-company recorded net sales of $431.1, a 30.7% increase over $329.8 million for the same period last year. Net income soared 23.6%, to $45.8 million from $37.0 million.
MSC Industrial Direct president/CEO David Sandler said that the company’s 2006 acquisition of J&L Industrial Supply, the catalog division of $1.8 billion Latrobe, PA-based manufacturer/marketer Kennametal, for $349.5 million played a vital role in first-quarter results. “The successful integration of the J&L acquisition continued during the third quarter, and we remain on track to meet our goal of $20 million in annual savings related to this acquisition,” Sandler said in a statement. “We have now successfully completed the migration of J&L to the MSC computer system, and J&L orders are now being seamlessly processed and shipped from MSC customer fulfillment centers.”