CDW sees 1Q sales rise 3.7 percent
VERNON HILLS - Technology solutions provider CDW Corp. reported first quarter 2015 sales were up 3.9 percent on continued strong sales.
Total net sales for the quarter were $2.755 billion, compared to $2.652 billion for the same period in 2014. Average daily sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $43.7 million, compared to $42.1 million in the first quarter of 2014.
Total Corporate segment net sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $1.574 billion, 4.5 percent higher than the first quarter of 2014. Corporate average daily sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $25.0 million, compared to $23.9 million in the first quarter of 2014. Corporate results reflected a 13 percent sales increase to Small Business customers and a 3 percent sales increase to Medium and Large Business customers.
Total Public segment net sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $1 billion, 3.7 percent higher than the first quarter of 2014. Public average daily sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $16 million, compared to $15.4 million in the first quarter of 2014. Public results were led by a sales increase of more than 13 percent to Government customers driven by both Federal and State and Local, as well as Education customers, which increased almost 7 percent. Net sales to Healthcare customers decreased just over 5 percent.
Net sales for CDW's Advanced Services business and Canadian operations, combined as "Other" for financial reporting purposes, declined 0.8 percent to $175.4 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $176.8 million in the first quarter of 2014. "Other" average daily sales in the first quarter of 2015 were $2.8 million, compared to $2.8 million in the first quarter of 2014. CDW's Advanced Services business consists of customized engineering services delivered by CDW professional engineers and managed services, including hosting and data center services.
"First quarter results reflect our success addressing transitioning customer priorities and leveraging the strength of our business model, as we delivered excellent profitability on solid top-line growth," said Thomas E. Richards, chairman and chief executive officer of CDW. "This performance highlights the power of our balanced portfolio of channels, broad product and solutions suite, and the impact of mix on our profitability as customer focus moved away from transactional products toward solutions and health care customers continued to focus on cost cutting."
Ann E. Ziegler, CDW's chief financial officer. added that over the past four quarters, the company has reduced interest expense by more than $36 million on a year-over-year basis.
"This lower interest expense amplified our strong operating results and helped us deliver a 19.5 percent increase in non-GAAP earnings per share in the quarter," Ziegler said.