The Big 3 pool/spa manufacturers — Fluidra, Hayward and Pentair — reported positive growth in their results for the first quarter of 2022, as did megadistributor PoolCorp.
While increased demand undoubtedly factored into the growth, some of the firms also attributed part of the increased sales figures to inflation. All four companies are publicly traded.
FLUIDRA reported record sales, ending the quarter with 667 million euros, up 31.1% from over a record first quarter of 2021.
The numbers for North America sales were even more positive than the company’s global performance. The North American market represented a boost of 49.3% for the Spanish manufacturer. Southern Europe was up 25.3% and the rest of Europe 5%, while the rest of the world witnessed a 29.8% growth.
The company’s Residential Pool business unit reported an increase of 29.3%. Its Commercial Pool operation grew by 59.4%. Pool Water Treatment was up 34.2%.
The company expects sales to grow between 12% and 17% for the year.
“We see volume growth for the full year from new construction and the continuous expansion of the aftermarket,” the company said.
HAYWARD reported a net sales increase of 23% compared with the first quarter of 2021. This brought net sales to $410.0 million.
The increase was even higher in the company’s U.S. operations, which saw a hike of 28%. The company attributed increased pricing and increased sales of residential pool equipment.
“Net sales continue to be driven by trends in aftermarket upgrades and consumer investments in outdoor living spaces,” the company said.
While the company’s gross profit increased by 19% to $190.4 million in Q1, gross profit margin decreased by 144 basis points to 46.4%.
“The decrease in gross margin was due to continued inflation in raw materials, labor and freight, despite favorable pricing actions and the realization of operating leverage on increased output,” the company said in its quarterly report.
Net income increased by 101% to $74 million for the quarter. Adjusted net income increased by 34% to $85 million.
For the full year 2022, the company is projecting net sales growth of 9% to 12% year-over-year.
PENTAIR announced first quarter 2022 sales of $1 billion, showing an increase of 15% compared to sales for the same period last year.
The company expects to see an 11% to 13% year-over-year increase in the second quarter. For all of 2022, the manufacturer expects sales reflect a 9% to 11% increase over 2021.
POOLCORP reported record net sales in the first quarter of 2022, yielding $1.4 billion compared with $1.1 billion in Q1 of 2021. This represented a 33% increase.
“The first quarter of 2022 proved to be another for the record books, marking our 36th consecutive quarter of historic revenue growth,” said Peter D. Arvan, PoolCorp’s president and CEO. “Healthy contractor backlogs and robust demand for outdoor living products continued to drive net sales growth …”
The company continues to credit trends working in the industry’s favor. “The increase in our sales reflects continued strong demand for outdoor living products, in addition to elevated price inflation of approximately 10% to 12%,” stated the Covington, La.-based company in a press release.
“Sales also benefited approximately 5% from both a pull forward of customer early buys and an extra selling day in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021.”
Gross profit increased 49% to a record $447.2 million in Q1, compared with $301.1 million in the same period last year.
In response, the publicly traded distributor raised its earnings guidance range to $18.34 to $19.09 per diluted share, “to reflect our confidence in our industry’s dynamics, which supports the sustained momentum and long-term growth of our business,” the company said.
This growth followed a 57% year-over-year increase for the full year 2021, when it reached another record high of $5.3 billion, compared with $3.9 billion in 2020.
