Fastenal Marginally Beats Quarterly Profit Estimates on Demand for Safety Products

FILE PHOTO: The Fastenal store in Golden, Colorado U.S. August 4, 2017. （REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo）

(Reuters) - Industrial supplies maker Fastenal on Friday posted a third-quarter profit that marginally surpassed analysts' estimates, benefiting from a sustained demand for its safety products.

Shares of the company rose about 4.5% in premarket trading.

The Winona, Minnesota-based company makes industrial supplies including fasteners - one of its biggest revenue generators - alongside other products such as protective wear and communication equipment.

The company estimated that disruption from Hurricane Helene, a storm that hit six U.S. states about two weeks ago, reduced its daily sales by 5 to 25 basis points in the quarter, Fastenal said.

Fastenal's daily sales rate - a metric used to measure average sales on a daily basis - rose about 1.9%, helped by an extra selling day this year.

The nuts and bolts maker posted a profit of 52 cents per share in the quarter ended September 30, marginally exceeding Wall Street estimates of 51 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company's revenue rose about 3.5% from a year ago to $1.91 billion. Analysts had estimated a third-quarter revenue of $1.90 billion.



(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)