Reliance Inc. Surges Ahead in 2024 Despite Challenging Market Conditions
Reliance Inc., a leading industrial distribution company, has demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2024 despite a challenging market environment. The company's strong execution of its model and strategy has fueled solid financial results, with same-store tons growing well above industry shipment levels.
In a falling price environment, Reliance was able to grow its tons shipped while delivering a strong full-year gross profit margin of 29.7%, squarely within its sustainable annual range. This achievement is a testament to the company's emphasis on smart profitable growth and its ability to navigate market fluctuations effectively.
One of the key highlights of 2024 was Reliance's successful acquisition and integration of four companies, adding approximately $400 million of net sales on an annualized basis. This strategic move has broadened the company's geographic footprint and processing capabilities in both new and existing markets, positioning Reliance for future growth.
Reliance's non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $15.92 reflected the benefit of its targeted growth strategies, diverse end markets served, strong pricing discipline, and expanded value-added processing capabilities. These factors collectively helped mitigate the impact of declining metal prices on the company's profitability.
The company's effective working capital management led to a record cash flow from operations of $1.43 billion in 2024, the third highest annual cash flow in Reliance's history. This impressive performance is a result of the company's balanced and disciplined approach to capital deployment, which included investing $430 million in capital expenditures, $365 million in acquisitions, and a record $1.1 billion in share repurchases.
Reliance's commitment to its employees was also evident in 2024, with the company maintaining its focus on keeping people safe every day. The company's leadership emphasized the importance of this priority, acknowledging the hard work and dedication of their teams across the entire family of companies.
As Reliance looks ahead to 2025, its priorities are centered on striving to keep employees safe every day, increasing volumes through smart profitable growth, maintaining an annualized gross profit margin within its estimated sustainable range, enhancing value-added processing capabilities, and promoting both growth and stockholder returns. With a robust acquisition pipeline and a strong balance sheet, Reliance is well-positioned to continue growing its business despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.
