Beacon Q4 profits move ahead

Beacon, the roofing and building products distributor, reported fourth quarter sales slipped 0.6% to $2.018 billion.

Profits in the fourth quarter surged to a company record net income of $71.9 million compared to a net income of $27.4 billion in the fourth quarter 2019. 

But Beacon posted a net loss of $80.9 million for the full year compared to a net loss of $10.6 million for all of 2019.

For the fourth quarter, Beacon reported that residential roofing product sales increased 6.2%, non-residential roofing product sales decreased 11.7%, and complementary product sales decreased 1.5% compared to the prior year. 

For the full year, total sales decreased 2.3% to $6.944 billion.

Residential roofing product sales increased 0.6% in 2020 as non-residential roofing product sales decreased 3.4%, and complementary product sales decreased 5.3% compared to the prior year. 

Based in Herndon, Va., Beacon operates more than 500 locations in the United States and Canada.

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The Bottom Line: Beacon’s profits rise 162% to $71.9 million in the fourth quarter but the company’s losses widen to $80.9 million.

What the CEO said: “Mid-single digit growth in residential roofing helped to offset softness in the non-residential product categories stemming from the continuing economic impact of COVID,” said Julian Francis, Beacon president and CEO. “Within this dynamic environment, we are intensely focused on selling activity and leveraging our leading digital platform that accounted for more than 10% of September sales.”

Company info: Click here to read Beacon’s full fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 report.