FISCAL 2022 Q2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Net sales of $862.5 million, an increase of 11.4% (7.9% on an average daily sales basis) compared to the prior fiscal year quarter
• Gross margin of 42.5% vs. 38.1%, or 42.0% on an adjusted basis in the prior fiscal year quarter¹
• Operating margin of 11.3%, or 11.6% excluding restructuring and other costs^1,2
• Diluted EPS of $1.25 vs. $0.32 in the prior fiscal year quarter
• Adjusted diluted EPS of $1.29 vs. $1.03 in the prior fiscal year quarter, a 25.2% increase¹

MELVILLE, N.Y. and DAVIDSON, N.C., March 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MSC INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CO. (NYSE: MSM), "MSC" or the "Company," a leading North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services, today reported financial results for its fiscal 2022 second quarter ended February 26, 2022.

Erik Gershwind, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I am excited by the growing momentum inside the Company to accelerate market share capture and improve profitability. We achieved double-digit top-line growth despite Covid-related disruptions during the first two weeks of January. Our growth initiatives are in high gear and the productivity improvements we deliver to our customers are resonating. Gross margin countermeasures, including a late January price increase, are working well and give us confidence that we can keep gross margins flat or better for full year fiscal 2022 versus fiscal 2021."

Kristen Actis-Grande, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, "Strong top line growth combined with gross margin execution and Mission Critical cost savings resulted in 11.6% adjusted operating margin and 22.4% adjusted incremental margin over the prior year fiscal second quarter. With the building momentum, we are adding a low double-digit growth tier to our fiscal 2022 annual adjusted operating margin framework with a corresponding annual adjusted operating margin between 12.5% and 13.1%. Should recent trends continue, we expect to be in that range."

Gershwind concluded, "I am pleased with the progress I see throughout the Company. We are already at or above our long-range target of growing sales by at least 400 basis points above the Industrial Production Index and are well on our way to achieving ROIC in the high-teens by the end of fiscal 2023."

Conference Call Information
MSC will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. EDT to review the Company's fiscal 2022 second quarter results. The call, accompanying slides, and other operational statistics may be accessed at: http://investor.mscdirect.com. The conference call may also be accessed at 1-877-443-5575 (U.S.), 1-855-669-9657 (Canada) or 1-412-902-6618 (international).

An online archive of the broadcast will be available until April 6, 2022.

The Company's reporting date for fiscal 2022 third quarter results is scheduled for June 29, 2022. 

About MSC Industrial Supply Co. 
MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM) is a leading North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services. We help our customers drive greater productivity, profitability and growth with approximately 2.0 million products, inventory management and other supply chain solutions, and deep expertise from over 80 years of working with customers across industries. Our experienced team of more than 6,500 associates is dedicated to working side by side with our customers to help drive results for their businesses - from keeping operations running efficiently today to continuously rethinking, retooling, and optimizing for a more productive tomorrow. For more information on MSC Industrial, please visit mscdirect.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: 
Statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including statements about the future impact of COVID-19 on our business operations, results of operations and financial condition, expected future results, expected benefits from our investment and strategic plans and other initiatives, and expected future growth, profitability and return on invested capital, are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "may," "believes," "anticipates," "thinks," "expects," "estimates," "plans," "intends," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements which refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, statements involving a discussion of strategy, plans or intentions, statements about management's assumptions, projections or predictions of future events or market outlook and any other statement other than a statement of present or historical fact are forward looking statements. The inclusion of any statement in this press release does not constitute an admission by MSC or any other person that the events or circumstances described in such statement are material. In addition, new risks may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict such risks or to assess the impact of such risks on our business or financial results. Accordingly, future results may differ materially from historical results or from those discussed or implied by these forward looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:  the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our sales, operations and supply chain; general economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, including conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; changing customer and product mixes; competition, including the adoption by competitors of aggressive pricing strategies and sales methods; industry consolidation and other changes in the industrial distribution sector; our ability to realize the expected benefits from our investment and strategic plans, including our transition from being a spot-buy supplier to a mission-critical partner to our customers; our ability to realize the expected cost savings and benefits from our restructuring activities and structural cost reductions; the retention of key personnel; volatility in commodity and energy prices, the impact of prolonged periods of low, high and rapid inflation, and fluctuations in interest rates; the credit risk of our customers, including changes in credit risk as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher inflation and fluctuations in interest rates; the risk of customer cancellation or rescheduling of orders; difficulties in calibrating customer demand for our products, in particular personal protective equipment or "PPE" products, which could cause an inability to sell excess products ordered from manufacturers resulting in inventory write-downs or could conversely cause inventory shortages of such products; work stoppages, labor shortages or other business interruptions (including those due to extreme weather conditions or as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) at transportation centers, shipping ports, our headquarters or our customer fulfillment centers; disruptions or breaches of our information technology systems, or violations of data privacy laws; the retention of qualified sales and customer service personnel and metalworking specialists; the risk of loss of key suppliers or contractors or key brands or supply chain disruptions, including due to import restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic or global geopolitical conditions; changes to governmental trade or sanctions policies, including the impact from significant import restrictions or tariffs or moratoriums on economic activity with certain countries or regions; risks related to opening or expanding our customer fulfillment centers; our ability to estimate the cost of healthcare claims incurred under our self-insurance plan; litigation risk due to the nature of our business; risks associated with the integration of acquired businesses or other strategic transactions; financial restrictions on outstanding borrowings; our ability to maintain our credit facilities; the interest rate uncertainty due to the London InterBank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") reform; the failure to comply with applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including government action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other laws applicable to our business; the outcome of government or regulatory proceedings or future litigation; goodwill and intangible assets recorded resulting from our acquisitions could be impaired; our common stock price may be volatile due to factors outside of our control; and our principal shareholders exercise significant control over us, which may result in our taking actions or failing to take actions which our other shareholders do not prefer. Additional information concerning these and other risks is described under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, respectively, and in the other reports and documents that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

• Results Excluding Impairment Loss (prior year), Inventory Write-downs (prior year), Legal Costs (prior year), Restructuring and Other Costs, and Other Charges

To supplement MSC's unaudited selected financial data presented consistent with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), the Company discloses certain non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP incremental margin, non-GAAP provision for income taxes, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, that exclude impairment loss (prior year), inventory write-downs (prior year), legal costs for impairment of prepaid PPE (prior year), restructuring and other costs, and other related costs and tax effects.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not presented in accordance with GAAP or an alternative for GAAP financial measures and may be different from similar non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and should only be used to evaluate MSC's results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

In calculating non-GAAP financial measures, we exclude impairment loss (prior year), inventory write-downs (prior year), legal costs for impairment of prepaid PPE (prior year), restructuring and other costs, and other related costs and tax effects. Management makes these adjustments to facilitate a review of the Company's operating performance on a comparable basis between periods, for comparison with forecasts and strategic plans, for identifying and analyzing trends in the Company's underlying business and for benchmarking performance externally against competitors. We believe that investors benefit from seeing results from the perspective of management in addition to seeing results presented in accordance with GAAP for the same reasons and purposes for which management uses such non-GAAP financial measures.

SOURCE MSC Industrial Supply Co.