WESCO had the opportunity to present its strategy for the rest of 2018 to a large group of investors at this year’s Raymond James 39th Annual Investors Conference.
As far as a financial outlook, WESCO presented a plan for revenue to be between $7.9 billion and $8.1 billion. That would be an increase of between 3-6% for the year. WESCO expects operating margin to be between 4.2%-4.6%. It’s 500 branches, serving 70,000 customers with more than 1 million SKUs will, according to the presentation, create “long-term customer relationships and deep familiarity with their operations.” WESCO’s presentation says the company will continue to build on better outcomes for customers by reducing their project and operating risks, increasing their productivity while decreasing their costs, and simplifying their supply chains.
WESCO also laid out a series of priorities for 2018 for the investors, which include continuing to execute the One WESCO sales growth initiatives through industrial, construction, utility and CIG markets. It also listed it will maintain focus on sales execution and effectiveness and differentiate WESCO through value-added services. WESCO also plans to sustain and expand its operating margin, and maintain strong free cash flow generation.
Part of the plan to expand the operating margin comes from five sources. WESCO told attendees it’s all about “optimization”, including sourcing through a wide variety of supply chain partners, inventory, pricing, network, and transportation.
Another part of the expanded margin comes from managing operating costs. WESCO told investors it eliminating 1,000 positions from 2015 and 2016, eliminating and consolidating branches, and investing in resources to deliver a competitive advantage. And last year, WESCO added technical sales and service staff while closely watching operating expenses.
Raymond James describes its annual investors conference as its “signature event”. Held annually in Orlando, FL during the first week of March, the conference features more than 300 companies and is attended by about 900 institutional investors from the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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