Public Equipment Companies Do Well First Quarter, Supplies Flat
Large publicly held equipment companies did very well in the first quarter of 2005, with a number of majors posting double-digit revenue increases, according to reports released during the past few weeks. But supplies and tabletop companies were surprisingly flat during the quarter with three of four reporting flat to negative sales versus the first quarter of '04. And profits were still being squeezed for everyone by the gap between price increases and material costs.

In the latest public company overview compiled by John Muldowney, Clarity Marketing, such companies as Enodis, Middleby, Manitowoc, Standex and Rational saw revenue gains of 10% or more in the quarter compared to the year-earlier period. With acquisitions not factored out—Middleby's acquisition of Nu-Vu being the primary one—the six companies charted by Muldowney saw revenues increase a blended 13.3%. Once again, chain-oriented suppliers saw stronger growth than spec-oriented companies, but the latter saw significant improvement.

Tabletop and supplies companies, however, were down a combined 1%, with only one of the four tracked companies reporting an increase. Although the overall number is affected by the continuing restructuring of Oneida, the trend was still surprising given reports of continuing operator sales increases.

While margins and profits were impacted by ongoing high materials costs, most public companies expect profits to improve as price increases announced in the first quarter take hold.