Service Performance Consistently Strong Across All Mail Categories

The United States Postal Service announced it has completed the installation of 137 new package sorting machines ahead of the holiday mailing and shipping season. The new equipment combined with increased operational precision will expand USPS’s daily package processing capacity to 60 million. FY2023 first quarter service performance scores covering Oct. 1 through Nov. 11 included: *First-Class Mail: 92.1 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a slight decrease of 1 percentage point from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Marketing Mail: 94 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a slight decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Periodicals: 86.4 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal fourth quarter.

Grainger reported results for the second quarter of 2024 with sales of $4.3 billion, up 3.1%, or 5.1% on a daily, organic constant currency basis, and adjusted diluted EPS of $9.76, up 5.2% compared to the second quarter of 2023. "I'm proud of our team for providing a flawless experience and creating tangible value for our customers. Amidst the backdrop of a slow, but generally stable demand environment, we focused on what matters and produced another quarter of solid results," said D.G. Macpherson, Chairman and CEO. "As we look to the second half of the year, I'm confident in our ability to execute well and deliver results for all stakeholders."

For the Three Months Ended April 2, 2022: Sales increased 19% to $293.6 million, compared to $247.6 million during the same period last year. Gross profit increased 7% to $154.9 million, or 52.7% of sales, compared to $145.2 million, or 58.6% of sales, in the first quarter of 2021. The 590 basis point decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by higher inbound freight, including a 220 basis point impact of a non-recurring true-up of prior year freight costs, and an unfavorable impact of the non-renewal of the Global System of Preferences (“GSP”) program on import duties, partially offset by price increases and a favorable mix shift to our DTC channel. Operating income decreased 17% to $33.3 million, or 11.3% of sales, compared to $40.0 million, or 16.2% of sales during the prior year quarter. Net income decreased 16% to $25.7 million, or 8.7% of sales, compared to $30.5 million, or 12.3% of sales in the prior year quarter.