COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report earlier this month, showing average sales for HARDI distributor members increased by 15.0 percent in August 2018.
The average annualized growth for the 12 months through August 2018 is 9.0 percent.
“Mid-teens growth is always encouraging, especially during the seasonally significant summer months,” said HARDI Market Research & Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. “The gain was exaggerated by the weak prior year. The Northeast experienced more than twice as many cooling degree days than last August. Cooling degree days were up by 70% in the Great Lakes and Central regions, and almost that much in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
“HARDI distributor sales were more encouraging than the recent retail sales report,” said Loftus. Monthly auto sales have declined for three consecutive months and national existing home sales have declined for 4 consecutive months. Existing home sales in the Northeast and Midwest have been down for 9 consecutive months.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, spiked up with the strong sales this past spring. The action was temporary, and the DSO returned to normal in June and July. We have another spike higher this month after back-to-back monthly sales gains.
HARDI members do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their monthly sales data and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty. Participation is voluntary, and the depth of market coverage varies from region to region. An independent entity collects and compiles the data that can include products not directly associated with the HVACR industry.