Stronger sales, acquisitions drive Richelieu results

MONTREAL ― Richelieu Hardware posted a 2% gain in consolidated sales in its first quarter ended February 28, reaching $226.2 million. Acquisitions boosted results by 2.8%, countering an internal decrease of 0.8%. At comparable exchange rates to the first quarter of 2018, consolidated sales would have been stable. Results were further affected by lower sales to the retail home improvement channel. The company also had an exceptionally strong Q1 in 2018 compared to the latest quarter, which was impacted by inventory realignment by retailer customers that did not show sales growth.