Ingram Micro Posts 45 Percent Profit For Q1

In a conference, CEO Gregory M. Spierkel was exuberant by the company's performance, especially by the fact that every global region either reached of exceeded growth goals. While Ingram grew top-line revenue by 8 percent to $7.6 billion compared to the first quarter of 2005, Spierkel noted the company's continuing efforts to reduce operating costs and sales expenses are paying dividends as product margins decline.

Spierkel and other corporate executives, however, cautioned against being overly optimistic for the rest of the year. While the company is forecasting sales of $7.1 billion to $7.4 billion for the next two quarters, CFO William Humes said the middle quarters of the year are typically softest for distribution.

Where Ingram expects further growth is through its storage business. Executives touted its recent deal with Hitachi Data Systems to be the global distributor of the Japanese company's enterprise storage hardware.

"This puts us in great shape to strengthen our position in the enterprise market and work with new vendors," said Kevin Murai, president and COO.

Ingram said it will continue to invest in services, adding more to its professional staffing and recruitment services, expanding its maintenance support service, and continuing to push its warranty management service.

"We want to help our VARs continue to be better and more efficient in their businesses," Murai said.

But future growth still rests in consumer electronics and retail, particularly in Europe and North America, executives said. The company plans to continue to expand its core distribution business in China, press consumer electronics and home office equipment in developed markets, and increase activity in services and untapped geographic regions.