BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec -- Uni-Select has reported sales of $397 million (U.S). in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $295 million in 2010. Net earnings increased to $9.7 million in the first quarter, or 45 cents per share compared to $7.2 million or 36 cents per share last year. Earnings for the period, adjusted for non-recurring items, namely the costs related to the acquisition of FinishMaster, a gain on disposal of a building and other less significant elements were $11.3 million or 53 cents per share compared to 40 cents in 2010.

Uni-Select noted that the increase in sales primarily stems from the addition of FinishMaster and organic growth of 1 percent. If the impact of the exchange rate is excluded, sales from Canadian operations reached $115.3 million, representing an organic increase of 1.9 percent compared to the same period last year. American operations recorded an organic sales increase of 0.4 percent to reach $281.4 million.

The operating margin, adjusted for costs related to IT development, increased from 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to 5.8 percent for this year first quarter. The FinishMaster contribution and cost-reduction programs combined with improved buying conditions offset lower margin pressure related to changes in the product mix and market conditions.

"We are pleased to report a strong growth in sales. We remain enthusiastic about the potential benefit associated with FinishMaster. The management team is actively working at the integration program of the FinishMaster operations while remaining dedicated to increase the efficiency of existing Uni-Select operations. Synergies will arise from the complementarity of business models, distribution networks and clientele. As portrayed by our financial statements, the acquisition was immediately accretive. We remain confident that the annual synergies will reach $10 million within three years," said Richard Roy, president and CEO of Uni-Select.

"As mentioned during the last quarters, the implementation of the enterprise resource planning system was initiated last month, on time, and will continue gradually throughout the next few months to finish by the end of 2012 keeping with our initial timeline," added Roy. "The improvement of stores' performance, the optimization of sales, distribution activities and assets management are at the heart of the initiatives that we will pursue throughout 2011."