Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call October 29, 2024 5:00 PM ET

Company Participants

Mike Smargiassi - IR, The Plunkett Group
Richard Leeds - Chairman & CEO
Tex Clark - SVP & CFO

Conference Call Participants

Anthony Lebiedzinski - Sidoti & Company

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Global Industrial's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, I would like to turn the floor over to Mike Smargiassi of The Plunkett Group. Sir, please go ahead.

Mike Smargiassi

Thank you, and welcome to the Global Industrial Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Leading today's call will be Richard Leeds, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO; and Tex Clark, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Formal remarks will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Today's discussion may include certain forward-looking statements. It should be understood that actual results could differ materially from those projected due to a number of factors, including those described under the forward-looking statements caption and under Risk Factors in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The press release is available on the company's website and has been filed with the SEC on a Form 8-K. This call is the property of Global Industrial Company.

I will now turn the call over to Richard.

Richard Leeds

Thanks, Mike. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our third quarter performance reflects the weak demand environment and continued softness in our core SMB customer base. We saw a cautious customer purchasing behavior throughout the quarter. Revenue was down each month in the period and up 3.4% for the quarter, as compared to the year ago period.

Our strategic account business continues to perform well, delivering solid growth. In addition, retention rates and customer satisfaction across our customer base remained healthy. Gross margin was 34% in the quarter, an improvement on a year-over-year basis but declined sequentially as we continue to face increased cost of sales, primarily from ocean freight headwinds.

Bottom line performance reflects further investments in key growth initiatives, specifically across customer experience, web and a new CRM platform that will help drive engagement and strengthen our competitive position. And reflecting on my observations since I returned to the CEO role, it's clear we have a talented team and a terrific business that has a strong foundation to drive long-term growth. However, we are disappointed with recent results and have identified key areas for improvement. At times, we're trying to cater to every customer segment rather than doubling down on what we excel at and where we deliver exceptional value to the market.