NEW YORK, July 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
ACI Association has initiated research coverage on Lawson
Products Inc. (NASDAQ: LAWS). Select highlights from the internally
released reports are being made available to the general public
(included below), with access to the entirety of the research
available to new members.
Today, membership is open to readers on a complementary basis at
the following URL: http://www.aciassociation.com/?c=LAWS
Highlights from our LAWS Report include:
- Decrease in Exchange Rate and Weaker Demand Impacts
Sales - On July 23, 2015, Lawson
Products Inc. reported net sales of $70.7
million for Q2 2015 against $72.1
million in Q2 2014. The Company has attributed this decrease
to weaker Canadian dollar, weak demand from customers associated
with the oil and gas industry and a general slow-down in the MRO
marketplace. The Company also highlighted that demand from direct
oil and gas customers declined $1.4
million from a year ago quarter; however, the same has
leveled-out from the first quarter.
- Improved profitability margins - Gross profit
came at $43.81 million during the
quarter, almost unchanged from $43.80
million in Q2 2014. Consequently, gross margins during the
quarter rose to 61.9% from 60.8% in the corresponding quarter prior
year and from 61.3% in the first quarter 2015. The Company
attributes this improvement largely to its continuous efforts to
improved distribution efficiencies and lower purchasing costs. The
Company's GAAP operating income soared to $3.2 million from $1.2
million reported in the same quarter prior year while
adjusted non-GAAP operating income came in at $4.3 million compared to $2.1 million a year ago. Net income was
$2.9 million, or $0.33 per diluted share as compared to
$0.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the same quarter
prior year.
- Cost Optimization: The Company informed that selling
expenses declined to $21.9 million
during the quarter from $23.0 million
reported in Q2 2014 and the same as a percent of sales decreased to
31.0% from 31.8% in the corresponding period. The Company
attributes this improvement in cost to reduced performance based
compensation, lower commissions on lower net sales and continued
cost control efforts, offset partially by higher fixed compensation
of newly hired sales representatives. General and administrative
expenses also decreased to $18.6
million from $19.5 million in
the prior year quarter mainly due to lower performance based
compensation and severance expense, and continued cost control
measures.
- Management View - Michael
DeCata, President and CEO stated that the Company has
realized solid growth within many of strategic customer
relationships while at the same time achieved continued operating
metric improvements. He added, "Our gross margins, which expanded
to 61.9% during the quarter, combined with our effective cost
control efforts and increased productivity, yielded a significant
improvement in our operating income. These improvements further
demonstrate that previous changes to our infrastructure are
delivering benefits. Our continued improvement in operating results
re-confirms that customers value our business model. We ended the
quarter with 920 sales representatives."
To find out how this influences our rating on Lawson Products
Inc., read the full report in its entirely here:
http://www.aciassociation.com/?c=LAWS
About ACI Association:
Active Charter Investors Association ("ACI Association")
produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles,
stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering
equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and micro-cap stocks. ACI
Association has two distinct and independent departments. One
department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content
generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports
covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces
sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered
analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment
newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and
micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of
procedures detailed below.
ACI Association has not been compensated; directly or
indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.
PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:
The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by
a writer (the "Author") and is fact checked and reviewed by a third
party research service company (the "Reviewer"). Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charter holder (the "CFA®"),
provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates.
The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary,
based on sound investment judgment and publicly available
information which is believed to be reliable. The Reviewer and the
CFA® have not performed any independent investigations or forensic
audits to validate the information herein. Unless otherwise noted,
any content outside of this document has no association with the
Author, the Reviewer, or the CFA® (collectively referred to as the
"Production Team") in any way. The Production Team is compensated
on a fixed monthly basis and do not hold any positions of interest
in any of the securities mentioned herein.
NO WARRANTY
ACI Association, the Author, the Reviewer and the CFA®
(collectively referred to as the "Publishers") are not responsible
for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of
this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is
accepted by the Publishers whatsoever for any direct, indirect or
consequential loss arising from the use of this document. The
Publishers expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or
liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from
any reliance placed on the information in this document.
Additionally, the Publishers do not (1) guarantee the accuracy,
timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information,
or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The
included information is subject to change without notice.
NOT AN OFFERING
This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or
a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned
or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only.
Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full
before investing. Neither ACI Association nor any party affiliated
with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with
any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our
report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit
http://www.aciassociation.com/.
RESTRICTIONS
ACI Association is not available to residents of Belarus, Cuba, Canada,
Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria
or Somalia. Do not send email to
robottrap (at) aciassociation.com.
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks
owned by CFA Institute.
SOURCE www.aciassociation.com