Ace Hardware reports growth of 8.9 per cent

Ace Hardware has reported record first-quarter 2022 revenues of USD 2.2 billion, an increase of USD 181.8 million, or 8.9 per cent, compared with the first quarter of 2021. The net income was USD 119.8 million for the first quarter of 2022, an increase of USD14.4 million from the first quarter of 2021. In total, wholesale revenue increases were seen across most departments with outdoor power equipment, lawn and garden and plumbing showing the largest gains, according to the company report.

“Our first-quarter increases in revenue and income bring our two-year stacked growth to nearly 51 per cent and 205 per cent, respectively,” said John Venhuizen, president and CEO. “Revenue growth from the 54 new stores we added in the first quarter was real and incremental. The remainder of the first-quarter revenue growth, however, was not, as it was the result of ongoing inflation.”

The approximately 3,500 Ace retailers who share daily retail sales data reported a 1.4 per cent increase in U.S. retail same-store sales during the first quarter of 2022. Estimated retail price inflation of 9.5 per cent helped drive a 10.0 per cent increase in average ticket. Same-store transactions were down by 7.8 per cent.

Ace added 50 new domestic stores in the United States in the first quarter of 2022 and shed 11 stores. The company’s total domestic store count was 4,790 at the end of the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 110 stores from the first quarter of 2021. On a worldwide basis, Ace added 54 stores in the first quarter of 2022 and shed 11, bringing the worldwide store count to 5,626 at the end of the first quarter of 2022.