SiteOne Landscape Supply Co., Roswell, Ga., reported a first-quarter net loss of $24.1 million, compared to a year-ago loss of $17 million in what is normally a seasonally weak quarter for the company. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $5.9 million, compared to the year-ago loss of $5.1 million. The company added that most of its acquisitions lose money in the first quarter.
First-quarter net sales were up 12 percent, to $417.3 million from the year-ago $371.4 million. The company told analysts that although weather was difficult in February and early March, the season began to ramp up during the last two weeks of March, supporting solid organic sales growth, which was up 5 percent for the quarter to $377.3 million from $360.9 million.
Agronomic sales, which includes fertilizer, which saw good growth in 2018, continued to be strong in the first quarter, with 7 percent organic daily sales growth. Acquisitions added $40 million, or 8 percent growth, up from $10.5 million.
“We saw good growth in the Southeast up through the Mid-Atlantic, and weakness out west in California due to wet weather and in the Mountain States, which are experiencing a much later spring this year,” CFO John Guthrie told analysts.
The company said at the beginning of the year it saw price increases from many of its suppliers, and has been passing 3-4 percent increases on to its customers.