CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Arrow Electronics, Inc. today reported fourth-quarter 2018 sales of $7.92 billion, an increase of 5 percent from sales of $7.54 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017. Fourth-quarter net income of $231 million, or $2.63 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $54 million, or $.60 per share on a diluted basis, in the fourth quarter of 2017. Excluding certain items1, net income would have been $225 million, or $2.57 per share on a diluted basis, in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with net income of $222 million, or $2.49 per share on a diluted basis, in the fourth quarter of 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018, changes in foreign currencies had negative impacts on growth of approximately $107 million or 2 percent on sales and $.06 or 3 percent on earnings per share on a diluted basis compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.
“We are helping customers create, make, and manage their electronic products at unmatched scale. This is driving tremendous growth for our suppliers, and for Arrow, as evidenced by our second consecutive year of growing sales by more than $3 billion,” said Michael J. Long, chairman, president, and chief executive officer. “We are proud to be enabling next-generation technologies and products that are making our world better.”
Global components fourth-quarter sales of $5.26 billion increased 6 percent year over year. Americas components sales increased 5 percent year over year. Europe components sales increased 9 percent year over year. Sales in the region, as adjusted, increased 13 percent year over year. Asia-Pacific components sales increased 7 percent year over year. “We are well-aligned to the long-term trends of growing electronic content in key end markets such as transportation, industrial, and aerospace and defense,” said Long.
Global enterprise computing solutions fourth-quarter sales of $2.66 billion increased 2 percent year over year. Global enterprise computing solutions sales, as adjusted, increased 6 percent year over year. Americas sales increased 4 percent year over year. Sales in the region, as adjusted, increased 9 percent year over year. Europe sales decreased 1 percent year over year. Sales in the region, as adjusted, were flat year over year. “We have positioned the company to lead the edge computing paradigm with our leading software, hardware, and security capabilities,” added Long.
FULL-YEAR RESULTS
Full-year 2018 sales of $29.68 billion increased 12 percent from sales of $26.55 billion in 2017. Net income for 2018 was $716 million, or $8.10 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $402 million, or $4.48 per share on a diluted basis, in 2017. Excluding certain items1, net income would have been $781 million, or $8.83 per share on a diluted basis, in 2018 compared with net income of $674 million, or $7.51 per share on a diluted basis, in 2017. In 2018, changes in foreign currencies had positive impacts on growth of approximately $252 million, or 1 percent on sales, and $.06, or 1 percent, on earnings per share on a diluted basis compared to 2017.
“We executed well in 2018, and continue to see good returns on our organic investments. Operating income, excluding certain items1, increased 16 percent compared to a 12 percent increase in sales. Fourth-quarter cash flow from operations was $263 million as our business model generates substantial cash in lower growth environments,” said Chris Stansbury, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “In the fourth quarter, we reduced leverage, and we returned approximately $150 million to shareholders through our stock repurchase program. With the recent authorization of an additional $600 million of repurchases, we had approximately $729 million of remaining authorization under our share repurchase programs at the end of the year.”
GUIDANCE
“As we look to the first quarter, we believe that total sales will be between $6.775 billion and $7.175 billion, with global components sales between $4.975 billion and $5.175 billion, and global enterprise computing solutions sales between $1.8 billion and $2.0 billion. As a result of this outlook, we expect earnings per share on a diluted basis, to be in the range of $1.61 to $1.73, and earnings per share on a diluted basis, excluding certain items1, to be in the range of $1.84 to $1.96 per share. Our guidance assumes an average tax rate at the high end of the long-term range of 23.5 to 25.5 percent, and average diluted shares outstanding of 87 million. We are expecting interest expense will total approximately $58 million. We are expecting the average USD-to-Euro exchange rate for the first quarter to be approximately $1.14 to €1. We estimate changes in foreign currencies will have a negative impact on growth of approximately $160 million, or 2 percent on sales, and $.08, or 4 percent, on earnings per share on a diluted basis compared to the first quarter of 2018,” said Stansbury.
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