Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) has released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 6.9 percent during January 2021. The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through January 2021 is 4.8 percent.

"2021 is getting off to a great start," said HARDI Marketing Research and Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. "HARDI distributors were able to achieve 6.9 percent sales growth for the month despite two fewer billing days than the prior year. This helped the annual sales growth rate continue to recover towards mid single-digit territory."

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is 45.4 days. “DSO has been faster than normal since June 2020 and that persists,” Loftus said. “Recently the DSO for this time of year has been in the range of 47 to 49.”

Loftus said the economy is projected to improve as 2021 progresses. “We can add this good TRENDS report to other encouraging recent economic indicators like durable goods orders, consumer confidence, industrial production and retail sales.  All these things are looking up and that is why interest rates have been inching up.”

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.