Motion Industries' sales rise 29%

Motion’s parent company, GPC, posts strong results, led by its industrial and electrical businesses

Industrial distributor Motion Industries posted a 29% sales gain in the third-quarter, as sales reached $921 million compared to $711 million in the same period a year ago. A division of Genuine Parts Co., Motion Industries and its sister company, electrical/electronics distributor EIS Inc., turned in the strongest results for the quarter, helping GPC post a 22% earnings gain on top of a 13% sales increase.

GPC’s third-quarter sales totaled $2.95 billion. Net income for the third quarter was $132 million, a 22% increase from $108 million recorded in the same period last year. Earnings per share rose 24% to 83 cents.

GPC’s sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30 were $8.4 billion compared with $7.6 billion in the same period last year. Motion Industries’ sales for the first nine months of the year were $2.6 billion, compared to $2.15 billion in the first nine months of 2009.

GPC chairman, president and CEO Thomas Gallagher pointed to this year’s recovery in manufacturing as key to growth in its industrial and electrical groups.

“Sales for Motion Industries, our industrial group, were up 29% for the quarter, and EIS, our electrical group, generated a 31% increase,” he said in a statement announcing the results. “Both Motion Industries and EIS sell into the manufacturing sector of the economy, which has experienced a nice recovery in 2010 and is performing well today.”

GPC saw solid gains in its automotive group, as sales rose 7% for the second straight quarter. Sales in its office products group were down slightly, in line with the company’s expectations.