Several industries managed to increase sales at a double-digit pace the past year despite a tough recession, according to an analysis.
“There are some bright spots in the economy. Everything isn’t horrible,” said Dan Saklad, chief operating officer of Sageworks Inc., a Raleigh, N.C., firm that analyzes financial information on privately held firms.
The dividing line for revenue growth seems to cut along the line of needs and wants, he said.
Firms that met needs for energy, food and medicines saw sales increase, while those that catered to wants such as new homes, cars, jewelry and flowers suffered, according to Sageworks data from a 12-month period ending in August.
The company gathers information from thousands of banks and accounting firms on privately held clients across 1,600 industries. The information can help a banker, for example, understand how a business borrower is doing compared with his or her peers.
Oil and gas producers did the best of any industry, increasing revenues 30 percent the past year despite plunging commodity prices.
Likely explanations are that smaller producers were able to lock in higher prices and that overall production went up, said Ward Polzin, managing director at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., a Denver-based energy investment bank.
But Polzin added that those revenue gains reflect a lag effect.
He doesn’t think energy firms will be at the top of the list for sales gains next year.
Wholesalers of farm-product raw materials — fuel and fertilizers — saw sales rise 21 percent the past year.
Oilseed and grain farmers were up 16 percent, food manufacturers up 15 percent, and bakeries and tortilla makers up 14 percent.
“It is just the general run-up in commodity prices that we experienced the past year. You saw that carry through to food producers as well,” said Shawn Martini, spokesman for the Colorado Farm Bureau.
The industries with the biggest sales declines are attached to battered housing, auto and consumer retail sectors.
Land subdivision sales were down 14 percent, wood-product manufacturing down 13 percent, and real estate agents and brokers down 12 percent.
Chris Stypinski, part owner and vice president of Austin Hardwoods in Denver, said sales have fallen 30 percent to 50 percent the past year for the maker of custom trim and cabinetry used in high-end homes.
The firm has cut eight staff positions and shrunk its inventory about 25 percent.
“It is pretty stagnant for about eight months,” Stypinski said. “A lot of smaller companies and shops have gone out of business.”
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
