Gates sales up after first year of public trading

Denver, Colorado – Gates Industrial Corp. plc reported increases in overall net sales and revenue for both its fourth quarter and full year financial results in its first year as a publicly traded company.

Net sales for the fourth quarter increased 1.3% to $792.1 million (€700 million) over the previous year, according to a company news release.

Net income, however, decreased to $82.5 million compared to $130.2 during the previous period.

Revenue growth for the quarter was driven by particularly strong demand in industrial end markets and replacement channels, Gates said.

Recent acquisitions, which included Turkey-based manufacturer of moulded rubber and branched hoses Rapro, added 0.7% to net sales during the quarter.

Foreign currency had a negative impact of 3%, the company added.

Net sales for the full year increased to $3.35 billion, a gain of 10.1% over the previous year's total.

Net income also increased to $271.1 million, up from $182.7 in 2017.

Emerging markets, particularly in replacement channels, led regional growth for the year.

Recent acquisitions added 3.5% to net sales during the period and foreign currency had a positive impact of 0.6%.

By segment, power transmission reported a decrease of 4.4% in net sales to $490.7 million in the final quarter.

This was due to decline in core revenue and unfavourable foreign currency effects, Gates said.

For the full year, segment net sales increased 4.5% to $2.1 billion over 2017, showing core revenue growth and favourable foreign currency effects.

Gates said the strong growth was driven by robust replacement channel sales globally and growth across all end markets and regions.

Fluid power net sales increased 12.2% to $301.4 million in the fourth quarter, helped by strong industrial end market demand, particularly in mobile hydraulic applications.

For the year, fluid power net sales increased 21% to $1.25 billion, with growth in nearly all regions.