It's earnings report season again, and the financial reports for the first quarter of 2011 now being published by publicly held electrical manufacturers are painting a picture of 2011 as a year of steady but not spectacular growth. When you read between the lines of the financial documents and reams of public relations mumbo-jumbo, it's quickly apparent that growth this year for many of the largest publicly held manufacturers is closely tied to how quickly the commercial construction market pivots into growth territory. Several senior executives said that magic moment should occur sometime in the second half of 2011.

One of the most encouraging financial reports for 1Q 2011 came from Eaton Corp., Cleveland, which enjoyed an 80 percent increase in net income per share in 1Q 2011 over the same period last year. The company's Electrical Americas and Electrical Rest of World business segments (which in 2010 accounted for 36 percent of the company's $13.7 billion in total revenues) were key contributors to this growth. Sales for the Electrical Americas segment were $964 million, up 20 percent over 2010, and sales for Eaton's Electrical Rest of World segment were also up big time — registering a 22 percent gain over the first quarter of 2010 to $743 million. Commenting on Eaton's first-quarter results, Alexander “Sandy” Cutler said, “We saw solid growth in our industrial markets, and we continue to believe nonresidential construction activity is on track to begin recovering by the middle of this year.”

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Thank-you from the staff of Electrical Marketing.