Maintenance repair and operations (MRO) supplier MSC Industrial Direct turned in a stellar fourth quarter. For the three months ended Sept. 1, the Melville, NY-based merchant of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies recorded net sales of $450.5 million, a 16.7% increase over $385.9 million for the same period last year. Its net income soared nearly 39%, to $47.4 million from $34.1 million last year.
“We are very pleased with MSC’s performance in the fiscal fourth quarter and in fiscal 2007 overall, which reflects excellent performance in somewhat uncertain market conditions,” company president/CEO David Sandler said in a release. “We maintained a focus on executing on our business strategy, controlled our expenses and built on our reputation as an indispensable partner to our customers. We continued to grow our presence in the West during the period, taking steps to expand our geographic footprint in that region. As a result of our efforts, we continued to take share and grow during the quarter, and generated financial performance that met or exceeded our expectations.”