Sales Decline in First Quarter for Canadian Distributor Wajax
Canadian distributor Wajax posted first quarter 2024 revenue of CDN $482.3 million compared with $516.1 million in the first quarter of 2023, a 6.5-percent decline, the company reported. Equipment rental revenue increased slightly from $10.7 million a year ago to $10.8 million in 2024’s first quarter. Engineered repair service was also flat, going from $85 million a year ago to $84.2 million in 2024’s first.
Product support was also essentially flat as was Industrial Parts. The big difference was in Equipment Sales, which tumbled from $132.3 million a year ago to $98.1 million in the just concluded quarter.
Revenue in western Canada of $219.7 million, a decrease of 7.7 percent from the same period in the prior year, primarily because of lower equipment sales in the construction and forestry category. This increase was offset partially by higher industrial parts sales. Revenue in central Canada of $90.5 million increased 3.7 percent from the same period in the prior year due primarily to higher ERS sales. Revenue in eastern Canada of $172.2 million decreased 9.8 percent from the same period in the prior year, primarily because of lower equipment sales in the construction and forestry, and material handling categories.
“[The company’s] year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a decline in construction and forestry equipment sales in western and eastern Canada,” said Iggy Domagalski, president and CEO. “Given our increased backlog of $587.1 million as at March 31, 2024, and the new HCMA financing program available March 1, 2024, stronger equipment sales are expected in the near term, and inventory is expected to decline over the next two quarters.
“The recently completed $100.0 million increase in credit limit under our senior secured credit facility provides us with additional flexibility as we continue to invest in future organic growth and our robust pipeline of potential acquisitions. We continue to monitor end markets and customer purchasing patterns, while being prudent with costs and maintaining focus on the execution of our strategic priorities.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.