What’s up with Fastenal?
FEATURE
Talk about a rough start to a quarter.
For the third time in 11 months, Fastenal has a new CEO. The company’s board elected CEO Daniel Florness as president and CEO, effective January 1, 2016. Florness, 51, will replace Will Oberton.
No explanation was given for the change.
Oberton, 57, first became CEO in December 2002, when he succeeded company founder Bob Kierlin, until December 2014, when Leland Hein took over.
But seven months after becoming CEO, Hein abruptly relinquished the top job to his predecessor Oberton.
Some Wall Street analysts speculated that something may have happened in Oberton’s personal life that prompted him to take time off.
The latest CEO shakeup at Fastenal comes amid declining fastener sales at the Winona, MN-based distribution giant.
Fastenal said fastener sales fell 4.4% in the third quarter of 2015 after flatlining in the second quarter and growing 5.5% in the opening quarter.
Overall Q3 sales gained 1.5% to $995.2 million, primarily from higher unit sales. Net sales were impacted by minimal price changes in non-fastener products and some price deflation in fastener products.
In early October, Fastenal agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle allegations the company discriminated against 171 job applicants who sought general warehouse positions at two of its distribution facilities in Indianapolis and Atlanta, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs determined.
OFCCP investigators found that Fastenal engaged in screening and testing practices that discriminated against African Americans and women.
Wall Street analysts are hoping Florness’ appointment signals a positive change for Fastenal.
“I think that Dan is clearly a positive for Fastenal because [it ends] the turmoil we have seen with the previous CEO stepping down after a short period of time and then Will stepping back in.,” said Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “But now with Dan, they have their man and it’s back to driving results.”
Related Stories:
• Fastenal To Pay $1.25M To Settle Federal Hiring Discrimination Case
• Fastenal To Acquire Fasteners Inc.
• Grainger Reports Sales & Profit Decline
Related Links:
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment