Interline Brands Inc., a distributor and direct marketer of MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) products, reported sales for the nine months ended Sept. 28, 2007, were $938.8 million, a 21.3 percent increase over sales of $774.3 million in the comparable 2006 period.

Sales from the July 2006 acquisition of AmSan represented a 17 percent increase in sales for this nine-month period. Average organic daily sales growth for the nine months was 4.3 percent.

Year-to-date gross profit increased $60.4 million, or 20.5 percent, to $355.7 million. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit was 37.9 percent, compared to 38.1 percent in the prior year period.

Operating income was $84.6 million, or 9 percent of sales, for the first nine months of 2007, compared to $74.9 million, or 9.7 percent of sales for the same period in 2006, a 12.9 percent increase.

Earnings per diluted share was $1.15, an increase of 16 percent over adjusted pro forma earnings per diluted share of 99 cents in the same period last year.

Third-Quarter Results

The company reported that sales for the third quarter of 2007 increased 5.1 percent over the comparable 2006 period, for a total of $330.2 million. Earnings per diluted share were 49 cents for the period, an increase of 14 percent over earnings per diluted share of 43 cents for the same period in 2006.

“Our revenue growth in the third quarter was driven by solid performance in our facilities maintenance end market, which grew at 13.9 percent on an average organic daily sales basis, including AmSan,” said William Sanford, president and chief operating officer. “Revenues in both the professional contractor and specialty distributor markets declined 10.4 percent in the third quarter as softness in these end markets continues.”

Gross profit increased $5.3 million, or 4.5 percent, to $125.4 million for the third quarter. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit was 38 percent, compared to 38.2 percent in the prior year period.

Third-quarter operating income increased 6.8 percent to $33.8 million, or 10.2 percent of sales, compared to $31.6 million, or 10.1 percent of sales, for the 2006 third quarter.

Business Outlook

Michael Grebe, Interline’s chairman and chief executive officer stated: “We experienced a continuation of the challenging conditions in the professional contractor and specialty distributor end markets that we serve, and we do not expect these two end markets to improve in the foreseeable future.

“Our visibility into the pro contractor and specialty distributor market remains very low. However, as a result of our diversified business model, we are maintaining our current earnings outlook of between $1.53 and $1.57 for 2007.”