Segment Information

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Segment Information [Abstract]

Segment Information

6. Segment Information

Since the December 2015 sale of the NATG business, the Company has operated and is internally managed in two reportable business segments— Industrial Products Group (“IPG”) and EMEA Technology Products Group (“EMEA”).   Smaller business operations and corporate functions are aggregated and reported as the additional segment – Corporate and Other (“Corporate”).  As previously stated, in December 2015, the Company sold certain assets and liabilities of the NATG business and expects remaining wind down activities to be substantially completed by the end of the second quarter of 2016, other than settling of remaining lease obligations.  The Company’s business is now comprised of IPG, EMEA and Corporate.

IPG sells a wide array of MRO products which are marketed in North America.  Most of these products are manufactured by other companies; however, the Company does offer a selection of products that are manufactured to our own design and marketed on a private label basis.

EMEA sells products categorized as Information and Communications Technology (“ICT”) and Consumer Electronics (“CE”).  These products include computers, computer supplies and consumer electronics which are marketed in Europe.  Substantially all of these products are manufactured by other companies; however, the Company does offer a selection of products that are manufactured to our own design and marketed on a private label basis.

As disclosed above, the NATG business is discontinued and the Company expects remaining wind down activities to be substantially completed by the end of the second quarter of 2016, other than settling of remaining lease obligations. The NATG segment sold products categorized as ICT and CE products which were marketed in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  Most of these products were manufactured by other companies; however, the Company did offer a selection of products that were manufactured to our own design and marketed on a private label basis.

The Company’s chief operating decision-maker is the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”).  The CEO, in his role as Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), evaluates segment performance based on operating income (loss) from continuing operations.  The CODM reviews assets and makes significant capital expenditure decisions for the Company on a consolidated basis only.  The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those of the Company.  Corporate costs not identified with the disclosed segments are grouped as “Corporate and other expenses”.

The IPG, EMEA and NATG (while it was in operation) segments sell dissimilar products.  IPG products are generally higher in price, lower in volume and higher in product margin.  EMEA and NATG products are generally higher in volume, lower in price and lower in product margin as compared to IPG.  This results in higher operating margin for the IPG segment.  Each segment incurs specifically identifiable selling, general and administrative expenses, with the selling, general and administrative expenses for the IPG segment being higher as a percentage of sales than those of the EMEA and NATG segments as a result of the IPG segment having a longer selling cycle for its business customers and a business model requiring greater advertising expenditures than the EMEA and NATG segments. Additionally, the IPG segment’s vendors generally do not provide funding to offset its marketing expenses.

Financial information relating to the Company’s continuing operations by reportable segment was as follows (in millions):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015
Net sales:
IPG	$	170.6		$	158.9
EMEA		258.2			272.6
NATG		-			79.1
Corporate and other		1.0			1.5
Consolidated	$	429.8		$	512.1
Operating income (loss):
IPG	$	7.9		$	9.7
EMEA		(0.8	)		(4.8	)
NATG		(1.8	)		(12.3	)
Corporate and other expenses		(5.8	)		(4.7	)
Consolidated	$	(0.5	)	$	(12.1	)

Financial information relating to the Company’s continuing operations by geographic area was as follows (in millions):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016		2015
Net sales:
United States	$	165.6	$	220.0
France		100.1		91.4
United Kingdom		73.2		99.4
Other Europe		84.9		81.8
Other North America		6.0		19.5
Consolidated	$	429.8	$	512.1

Revenue is attributed to countries based on the location of the selling subsidiary.