Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing average sales for HARDI distributor members increased by 0.2 percent in March 2018. The average annualized growth for the 12 months through March 2018 is 6.1 percent.

“March is a transition month,” said HARDI Market Research and Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. “There was almost 10 percent more heating degree days, but it appears that was primarily a reason to delay cooling equipment purchases.”

“The first quarter earnings reports will be the first full look at post-tax reform profitability for US businesses,” said HARDI Senior Economist Connor Lokar. “If they struggle to accelerate their profits with the tax change pushing them forward, that would preview the macroeconomic slowdown we expect to bite later this year. The consumer is certainly in a confident and stable position to help drive growth.”

“The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is near 47 days,” said Loftus. “This is more than a day faster than 2016 and 2017, and more than two days better than 2015.”

HARDI members do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their monthly sales data and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty. Participation is voluntary, and the depth of market coverage varies from region to region. An independent entity collects and compiles the data that can include products not directly associated with the HVACR industry.

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