Fastenal Company in July announced its financial results for the quarter and six-month period ended June 30, 2017. Net sales increased $107.2, or 10.6 percent, from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by higher unit sales, resulting from improvement in underlying market demand, growth in Fastenal’s industrial vending business, and growth in new and existing onsite locations (defined as dedicated sales and service provided from within, or in close proximity to, the customer’s facility).
Fastenal’s gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, improved 30 basis points to 49.8 percent in the second quarter of 2017 from 49.5 percent in the second quarter of 2016. Changes in product and customer mix continued to adversely impact gross profit.
Operating income, as a percentage of net sales, improved to 21.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017 from 20.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016.
Growth driver performance
Fastenal signed 4,881 industrial vending machines during the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 0.3 percent over the second quarter of 2016. Its installed device count on June 30, 2017 was 66,577, an increase of 14.1 percent over June 30, 2016. Sales through vending machines continued to grow at a double-digit pace in the second quarter of 2017, primarily due to the increase in the installed base.
Fastenal signed 68 new onsite locations during the second quarter of 2017 compared to 44 signings in the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 54.5 percent. The company had 486 active sites on June 30, 2017, which represented an increase of 45.9 percent over June 30, 2016.
The company signed 51 new national account contracts (defined as new customer accounts with a multi-site contract) in the second quarter of 2017, and revenues attributable to national account customers represented 47.8 percent of total revenues in the period. Sales to our national account customers grew 13.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017 over the second quarter of 2016.
