UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

x                               ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2006

o                                  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from                          to                         

Commission File Number 000-50924

BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Address of principal executive offices: One Lakeland Park Drive, Peabody, MA 01960

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (978) 535-7668

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Common Stock, $.01 par value

Name of each exchange on which registered:

The NASDAQ Global Select Market

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x  No o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o  No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x  No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer x    Accelerated filer o    Non-accelerated filer o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o  No x

The aggregate market value of the voting stock (common stock) held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the end of the second quarter ended March 31, 2006 was $1,164,127,233.

The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of December 1, 2006 was 43,872,533.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The information required by Part III (Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14) will be incorporated by reference from the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement (to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A).

Table of Contents

BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY, INC.

Index to Annual Report
on Form 10-K

Year Ended September 30, 2006

					Page
PART I					1
Item 1.		Business			1
Item 1A.		Risk Factors			11
Item 1B.		Unresolved Staff Comments			13
Item 2.		Properties			13
Item 3.		Legal Proceedings			14
Item 4.		Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders			14
PART II					15
Item 5.		Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities			15
Item 6.		Selected Financial Data			15
Item 7.		Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			18
Item 7A.		Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk			35
Item 8.		Financial Statements and Supplementary Data			36
Item 9.		Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure			63
Item 9A.		Controls and Procedures			63
Item 9B.		Other Information			65
PART III.					66
PART IV					66
Item 15.		Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules			66

 

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Forward-looking statements

The matters discussed in this Form 10-K that are forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “would” and other words and terms of similar meaning in conjunction with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. You should read statements that contain these words carefully, because they discuss our future expectations, contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial position or state other “forward-looking” information.

We believe that it is important to communicate our future expectations to our investors. However, there are events in the future that we are not able to accurately predict or control. The factors listed under Item 1A, Risk Factors, as well as any cautionary language in this Form 10-K, provide examples of risks, uncertainties and events that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially from those in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those described under Item 1A, Risk Factors and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Form 10-K. Except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not have any intention, and do not undertake, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date of this Form 10-K, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements included in this Form 10-K or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of us. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

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PART I

ITEM 1.                BUSINESS

Overview

We are one of the largest distributors of residential and non-residential roofing materials in the United States and Canada. We also distribute other complementary building materials, including siding, windows, specialty lumber products and waterproofing systems for residential and nonresidential building exteriors. We currently operate 155 branches in 31 states and 3 Canadian provinces, carrying up to 10,000 SKUs and serving more than 38,000 customers. We are a leading distributor of roofing materials in key metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Central Plains, Southeast and Southwest regions of the United States and in Eastern Canada.

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, residential roofing products comprised 49% of our sales, non-residential roofing products accounted for 30% of our sales, and siding, waterproofing systems, windows, specialty lumber and other exterior building products provided the remaining 21% of our sales.

We also provide our customers a comprehensive array of value-added services, including:

·       advice and assistance to contractors throughout the construction process, including product identification, specification and technical support;

·       job site delivery, rooftop loading and logistical services;

·       tapered insulation design and layout services;

·       metal fabrication and related metal roofing design and layout services;

·       trade credit; and

·       marketing support, including project leads for contractors.

We believe the additional services we provide strengthen our relationships with our customers and distinguish us from our competition. The vast majority of orders require at least some of these services. Our ability to provide these services efficiently and reliably can save contractors time and money. We also believe that our value-added services enable us to achieve attractive gross profit margins on our product sales. We have earned a reputation for a high level of product availability, excellent employees, professionalism and high-quality service, including timely, accurate and safe delivery of products.

Our diverse customer base represents a significant portion of the residential and non-residential roofing contractors in most of our markets. Reflecting the overall market for roofing products, we sell the majority of our products to roofing contractors that are involved on a local basis in the replacement, or re-roofing, component of the roofing industry. We utilize a branch-based operating model in which branches maintain local customer relationships but benefit from centralized functions such as information technology, accounting, financial reporting, credit, purchasing, legal and tax services. This allows us to provide customers with specialized products and personalized local services tailored to a geographic region, while benefiting from the resources and scale efficiencies of a national distributor.

We have achieved our growth through a combination of fourteen strategic and complementary acquisitions between 1998 and 2006, opening new branch locations, acquiring branches and broadening our product offering. We have grown from $76.7 million in sales in fiscal year 1998 to $1.5 billion in sales in fiscal year 2006, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 45.0%. Our internal growth, which includes growth from existing and newly opened branches but excludes growth from acquired branches, was 7.0% per annum over the same period. Acquired branches are excluded from internal growth measures until they have been under our ownership for at least four full fiscal quarters at the start of the reporting period. During this eight-year period, we opened nineteen new branch locations and our same

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store sales increased an average of 3.2% per annum. Same store sales are defined as the aggregate sales from branches open for the entire comparable annual periods within the eight-year period. Income from operations has increased from $5.3 million in fiscal year 1998 to $100.3 million in fiscal year 2006, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 44.4%. We believe that our proven business model will continue to deliver industry-leading growth and operating profit margins.

In fiscal 2006, we had internal growth rates of 14.7% and 38.8% in sales and income from operations, respectively, over fiscal 2005. Fiscal year 2006 had four additional business days as compared to fiscal 2005, which boosted existing market sales by approximately 2.3%. We also opened six new branch locations and acquired sixty-five branches through our acquisitions of SDI Holding, Inc. (“Shelter”), Easton Wholesale Company, Inc. (“Easton”), C & S Roofing Materials, Inc. (“Pacific”), Mississippi Roofing Supply, Inc., Sunbelt Supply, LLC, & Alabama Roofing Supply, LLC (together the “Supply Companies”), Roof Depot, Inc. (“Roof Depot”), and Roofing and Sheet Metal Supply Company of Tulsa, Inc. (“RSM”).

History

Our predecessor, Beacon Sales Company, Inc., was founded in Charlestown, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) in 1928. In 1984, when our current Chairman Andrew Logie acquired Beacon Sales Company with other investors, it operated three distribution facilities and generated approximately $16 million in annual revenue. In August 1997, Code, Hennessy & Simmons III, L.P., a Chicago-based private equity fund, and certain members of management, purchased Beacon Sales Company to use it as a platform to acquire leading regional roofing materials distributors throughout the United States and Canada. At the time of the purchase by Code Hennessy and management, Beacon Sales Company operated seven branches in New England and generated approximately $72 million of revenue annually, primarily from the sale of non-residential roofing products. Since 1997, we have made fourteen strategic and complementary acquisitions. Also since 1997, we have opened a total of twenty-four new branches. We have also expanded our product offerings to offer more residential roofing products and complementary exterior building materials and related services. Our strategic acquisitions, branch expansions, and product line extensions have increased the diversity of both our customer base and local market focus and generated cost savings through increased purchasing power and reduced overhead expenses as a percentage of net sales. We completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) and became a public company in September 2004, and completed a secondary stock offering in December 2005.

We were incorporated in Delaware in 1997. Our principal executive offices are located at One Lakeland Park Drive, Peabody, MA 01960 and our telephone number is (978) 535-7668. Our Internet website address is www.beaconroofingsupply.com.

Recent developments

On November 2, 2006, we and our lenders amended our credit facilities. See Capital Resources for a full description.

U.S. Industry Overview

The U.S. roofing market based upon manufacturer sales to distribution and others was estimated to be approximately $10.5 billion in 2003, which is the most recent annual data available to us, and is projected to grow 3.5% annually through 2008 to $12.5 billion. We believe this rate of growth is consistent with the stable long-term growth rates in the industry over the past 40 years.

The U.S. roofing market can be separated into two categories: the residential roofing market and the non-residential roofing market. The residential roofing market accounted for approximately 64% of the total U.S. market by volume in 2003. Through the end of the decade, non-residential roofing construction is expected to grow faster than residential roofing construction.

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Over 70% of expenditures in the roofing market are for re-roofing projects, with the balance being for new construction. Re-roofing projects are generally considered maintenance and repair expenditures and are less likely than new construction projects to be postponed during periods of recession or slow economic growth. As a result, demand for roofing products is less volatile than overall demand for construction products.

Regional variations in economic activity influence the level of demand for roofing products across the United States. Of particular importance are regional differences in the level of new home construction and renovation, since the residential market for roofing products accounts for approximately 64% of demand. Demographic trends, including population growth and migration, contribute to regional variations in residential demand for roofing products through their influence on regional housing starts and existing home sales.

Roofing distributors

Wholesale distribution is the dominant distribution channel for both residential and nonresidential roofing products. Wholesale roofing product distributors serve the important role of facilitating the purchasing relationships between roofing materials manufacturers and thousands of contractors. Wholesale distributors also maintain localized inventories, extend trade credit, give product advice and provide delivery and logistics services.

Despite some recent consolidation, the roofing materials distribution industry remains highly fragmented. The industry is characterized by a large number of small and local regional participants. As a result of their small size, many of these distributors lack the corporate, operating and IT infrastructure required to compete effectively.

Residential roofing market

Within the residential roofing market, the re-roofing market is more than twice the size of the new roofing market, accounting for over 69% of the residential roofing demand in 2003. Over the next several years, re-roofing demand is expected to continue to exceed new roofing demand, with growth rates nearly double those of new roofing.

Driving this demand for re-roofing is an aging U.S. housing stock. Over one-third of the U.S. housing stock was built prior to 1960, with the median age of U.S. homes being over 30 years. Asphalt shingles, which dominate the residential re-roofing market with a nearly 89% share, have an expected useful life of 15 to 20 years.

A number of factors also generate re-roofing demand, including one-time weather damage (such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which increased demand in 2006), improvement expenditures and homeowners looking to upgrade their homes. Sales of existing homes can affect re-roofing demand, as some renovation decisions are made by sellers preparing their houses for sale and others made by new owners within the first year or two of occupancy.

Within the new construction portion of the residential roofing market, housing starts together with larger average roof sizes have supported growth in new residential roofing demand. However, new housing starts declined during 2006 and the pace may continue at the lower levels, decline further or rebound in the future.

Non-residential roofing market

Demand for roofing products used on non-residential buildings is forecast to advance at a faster rate than roofing products used in residential construction, as a result of a continued growth in construction activity in the office, commercial and industrial markets. New non-residential roofing is currently the

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fastest-growing portion of the U.S. roofing market. Good economic conditions, including a continued positive outlook for business and capital spending, are expected to drive expenditures for non-residential roofing. High-margin metal roofing will play an important role in the increased demand.

Re-roofing projects represent approximately 80% of the total non-residential demand. Re-roofing activity tends to be less cyclical than new construction and depends in part upon the types of materials on existing roofs, their expected lifespan and intervening factors such as wind or water damage.

The non-residential roofing market includes an office and commercial market, an industrial market and an institutional market. Office and commercial roofing projects, the single largest component of the non-residential roofing market at 46.5%, are expected to continue to show gains. Industrial roofing projects, representing 22.5% of non-residential roofing product sales, should also grow. Following a large contraction in non-residential construction from 2000 to 2002, non-residential roofing sales rebounded strongly in recent years.

The institutional market is comprised primarily of healthcare and educational construction activities. This market will continue to benefit from an aging baby boom population that will drive increases in the nation’s healthcare infrastructure, as well as increasing school enrollments that will require new and replacement facilities.

Complementary building products

Demand for complementary building products such as siding, windows and doors for both the residential and non-residential markets also grew in recent years. As in the roofing industry, demand for these products is driven by the repair and remodeling market as well as the new construction market.

These complementary products also significantly contribute to the overall building products market. In 2003, the U.S. siding market was approximately $8.4 billion and the U.S. window and door industry was approximately $25.4 billion. Both of these markets are expected to grow in line with that of the roofing industry over the next several years.

Our Strengths

We believe that our sales and earnings growth has been and will continue to be driven by our primary competitive strengths, which include the following:

·       National scope combined with regional expertise.   We believe we are one of the three largest roofing materials distributors in the United States and Canada. We utilize a branch-based operating model in which branches maintain local customer relationships but benefit from centralized functions such as information technology, accounting, financial reporting, credit, purchasing, legal and tax services. This allows us to provide customers with specialized products and personalized local services tailored to a geographic region, while benefiting from the resources and scale efficiencies of a national distributor.

·       Diversified business model that reduces impact of economic downturns.   We believe that our business is meaningfully protected in an economic downturn because of our high concentration in re-roofing, the mix of our sales between residential and non-residential products, our geographic and customer diversity, and the financial and operational ability we have to expand our business and obtain market share.

·       Superior customer service.   We believe that our high level of customer service and support differentiates us from our competitors. We employ experienced salespeople who provide advice and assistance in properly identifying products for various applications. We also provide services such as safe and timely job site delivery, logistical support and marketing assistance. We believe that the

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services provided by our employees improve our customers’ efficiency and profitability which, in turn, strengthens our customer relationships.

·       Strong platform for growth and acquisition.   Since 1997, we have consistently increased revenue and operating income at rates well in excess of the growth in the overall roofing materials distribution industry. We have expanded our business through strategic acquisitions, new branch openings, branch acquisitions and the diversification of our product offering. We have successfully acquired companies and significantly improved their financial and operating performance after acquisition.

·       Sophisticated IT platform.   All of our locations, except one region of Shelter which will be converted in January 2007, operate on the same management information systems. We have made a significant investment in our information systems, which we believe are among the most advanced in the roofing distribution industry. These systems provide us with a consistent platform across all of our operations that helps us achieve additional cost reductions, greater operating efficiencies, improved purchasing, pricing and inventory management and a higher level of customer service. Our systems have substantial capacity to handle our future growth without requiring significant additional investment.

·       Industry-leading management team.   We believe that our key personnel, including branch managers, are among the most experienced in the roofing industry. Our executive officers, regional vice presidents and branch managers have an average of over 17 years of roofing industry experience.

·       Extensive product offering and strong supplier relationships.   We have a product offering of up to 10,000 SKUs, representing an extensive assortment of high-quality branded products. We believe that our extensive product offering has been a significant factor in attracting and retaining many of our customers. Because of our significant scale, product expertise and reputation in the markets that we serve, we have established strong ties to the major residential roofing materials manufacturers and are able to achieve substantial volume discounts.

Growth Strategies

Our objective is to become the preferred supplier of roofing and other exterior building product materials in the U.S. and Canadian markets while continuing to increase our revenue base and maximize our profitability. We plan to attain these goals by executing the following strategies:

·       Expand geographically through new branch openings.   Significant opportunities exist to expand our geographic focus by opening additional branches in existing or contiguous regions. Since 1997, we and our acquired companies have successfully entered numerous markets through greenfield expansion. Our strategy with respect to greenfield opportunities is to open branches within: (1) our existing markets; (2) where existing customers have expanded into new regions; and (3) in areas that have limited or no acquisition candidates that are a good fit with our business model. At times, we have acquired small distributors with one to three branches to fill in existing regions.

·       Pursue acquisitions of regional market-leading roofing materials distributors.   Acquisitions are an important component of our growth strategy. We believe that there are significant opportunities to grow our business through disciplined, strategic acquisitions. With only a few large, well-capitalized competitors in the industry, we believe we can continue to build on our distribution platform by successfully acquiring additional roofing materials distributors. Between 1998 and 2006, we successfully integrated fourteen strategic and complementary acquisitions.

·       Expand product and service offerings.   We believe that continuing to increase the breadth of our product line and customer services are effective methods of increasing sales to current customers and attracting new customers. We work closely with customers and suppliers to identify new building products and services, including windows, siding, waterproofing systems, insulation and

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metal fabrication. In addition, we believe we can expand our business by introducing products that we currently offer in certain of our existing markets into some of our other markets. In particular, we believe that we can expand nonresidential roofing sales in certain of our acquired markets that currently sell mostly residential products.

Products and services

Products

The ability to provide a broad range of products is essential in roofing materials distribution. We carry one of the most extensive arrays of high-quality branded products in the industry, enabling us to deliver products to our customers on a timely basis. Excluding one region of Shelter’s operations that is not yet on our mainframe system, we are able to fulfill approximately 95% of our orders through our in-stock inventory as a result of the breadth and depth of our inventory at our branches. Our product portfolio includes residential and non-residential roofing products as well as complementary building products such as siding, windows and specialty lumber products. Our product lines are designed to primarily meet the requirements of both residential and non-residential roofing contractors.

Product Portfolio

Residential				Non-residential		Complementary building products
roofing products				roofing products		Siding		Windows/Doors
Asphalt shingles				Single-ply roofing		Vinyl siding		Vinyl windows
Synthetic slate and tile				Asphalt		Red, white and yellow		Aluminum windows
Clay tile				Metal		cedar siding		Wood windows
Concrete tile				Modified bitumen		Fiber cement siding		Turn-key windows
Slate				Built-up roofing		Soffits		Doors
Nail base insulation				Cements and coatings		House wraps and vapor
Metal roofing				Insulation—flat stock		barriers
Felt				and tapered
Wood shingles and				Commercial fasteners
shakes				Metal edges and
Nails and fasteners				flashings
Prefabricated flashings				Skylights, smoke vents		Other		Specialty Lumber
Ridges and soffit vents				and roof hatches		Waterproofing systems		Redwood
Gutters and				Sheet metal, including		Building insulation		Red cedar decking
downspouts				copper, aluminum		Air barrier systems		Mahogany decking
Other accessories				and steel		Gypsum		Pressure treated lumber
				Other accessories				Fire treated plywood
								Synthetic decking PVC
								trim boards
								Millwork
								Custom millwork

 

The products that we distribute are supplied by the industry’s leading manufacturers of high-quality roofing materials and related products, such as Alcoa, Carlisle, Certainteed, ElkCorp, EMCO, Firestone, GAF Materials, Johns Manville, Owens Corning and Tamko.

In the residential market, asphalt shingles comprise the largest share of the products we sell. We have also developed a specialty niche in the residential roofing market by distributing products such as high-end shingles, copper gutters and metal roofing products, as well as specialty lumber products for residential applications, including redwood, white and red cedar shingles, red cedar siding, and mahogany and red

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cedar decking. Additionally, we distribute gutters, downspouts, tools, nails, vinyl siding, windows, decking and related exterior shelter products to meet the needs of our residential roofing customers.

In the non-residential market, single-ply roofing systems comprise the largest share of our products. Our single-ply roofing systems consist primarily of Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (synthetic rubber or EPDM) or thermo plastic (TPO) roofing materials and related components. In addition to the broad range of single-ply roofing components, we sell the insulation that is required as part of most non-residential roofing applications. Our insulation products include tapered insulation, which has been a high-growth product line. Our remaining non-residential products include metal roofing and flashings, fasteners, fabrics, coatings, roof drains, modified bitumen, built-up roofing and asphalt.

Services

We emphasize service to our customers. We employ a knowledgeable staff of in-house salespeople. Our sales personnel possess in-depth technical knowledge of roofing materials and applications and are capable of providing advice and assistance to contractors throughout the construction process. In particular, we support our customers with the following value-added services:

·       advice and assistance throughout the construction process, including product identification, specification and technical support;

·       job site delivery, rooftop loading and logistical services;

·       tapered insulation design and layout services;

·       metal fabrication and related metal roofing design and layout services;

·       trade credit; and

·       marketing support, including project leads for contractors.

Customers

Our diverse customer base consists of more than 38,000 contractors, home builders, building owners, and other resellers primarily in the Southeast, Northeast, Central Plains, Midwest, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, as well as in Eastern Canada. Our typical customer varies by end market, with relatively small contractors in the residential market and small to large-sized contractors in the non-residential market. To a lesser extent, our customer base includes general contractors, retailers and building materials suppliers.

As evidenced by the fact that a significant number of our customers have relied on us or our predecessors as their vendor of choice for decades, we believe that we have strong customer relationships that our competitors cannot easily displace or replicate. No single customer accounts for more than 0.5% of our revenues.

Sales and marketing

Sales strategy

Our sales strategy is to provide a comprehensive array of high-quality products and superior value-added services to residential and non-residential roofing contractors reliably, accurately and on time. Excluding one region of Shelter’s operations not yet on our mainframe system, we fulfill approximately 95% of our warehouse orders through our in-stock inventory as a result of the breadth and depth of our inventory at our local branches. We believe that our focus on providing superior value-added services and our ability to fulfill orders accurately and rapidly enables us to attract and retain customers.

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Sales organization

We have attracted and retained an experienced sales force of more than 900 people who are responsible for generating revenue at the local branch level. The expertise of our salespeople helps us to increase sales to existing customers and add new customers.

Each of our branches is headed by a branch manager, who also functions as the branch’s sales manager. In addition, each branch generally employs up to four outside direct salespeople and up to five inside salespeople who report to their branch manager. Branches that focus on the residential market typically staff larger numbers of outside salespeople.

The primary responsibilities of our outside salespeople are to prospect for new customers and increase sales to existing customers. Our outside salespeople accomplish these objectives by reviewing information from construction reports and other industry news services in search of attractive construction projects in their local markets that are up for bids from contractors. Once a construction project is identified, our outside salespeople contact potential customers in an effort to solicit their interest in participating with us in the project. By seeking a contractor to “partner” with on a bid, we increase the likelihood that the contractor will purchase their roofing materials and related products from us in the event that the contractor is selected for the project.

To complement our outside sales force, we have built a strong and technically proficient inside sales staff. Our inside sales force is responsible for fielding incoming orders, providing pricing quotations and responding to customer inquiries. Our inside sales force provides vital product expertise to our customers.

In addition to our outside and inside sales forces, we represent certain manufacturers for particular manufacturers’ products. Currently, we have developed relationships with Carlisle, Johns Manville, Owens Corning, Soprema and Firestone on this basis. We currently employ fifteen representatives who act as liaisons (on behalf of property owners, architects, specifiers and consultants) between these roofing materials manufacturers and professional contractors.

Marketing

In order to capitalize on the local customer relationships that we have established and benefit from the brands developed by our regional branches, we have maintained the trade names of most of the businesses that we have acquired. These trade names—Alabama Roofing Supply, Beacon Roofing Supply Canada Company, Beacon Sales Company, Best Distributing, Coastal Metals, Dealer’s Choice, Forest, GLACO, Groupe Bedard, JGA Corp., Lafayette Woodworks, Mississippi Roofing Supply, Pacific Supply, Quality Roofing Supply, Roof Depot, Roofing and Sheet Metal of Tulsa, Shelter Distribution, Southern Roof Center, The Roof Center and West End Lumber—are well-known in the local markets in which the respective branches compete and are associated with the provision of high-quality products and customer service.

As a supplement to the efforts of our sales force, each of our branches communicates with residential and non-residential contractors in their local markets through newsletters, direct mail and the Internet. In order to build and strengthen relationships with customers and vendors, we sponsor and promote our own regional trade shows, which feature general business and roofing seminars for our customers and product demonstrations by our vendors. In addition, we attend numerous industry trade shows throughout the regions in which we compete, and we are an active member of the National Roofing Contractors Association, as well as regional contractors’ associations.

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Purchasing and suppliers

Our status as a leader in our core geographic markets, as well as our reputation in the industry, has allowed us to forge strong relationships with numerous manufacturers of roofing materials and related products, including Alcoa, Carlisle, Certainteed, ElkCorp, Firestone, GAF Materials, Johns Manville, Owens Corning, Soprema and Tamko.

We are viewed by our suppliers as a key distributor due to our industry expertise, significant market share in our core geographic markets and the substantial volume of products that we distribute. We have significant relationships with more than 50 suppliers and maintain multiple supplier relationships for each product line.

We manage the procurement of products through our headquarters for the vast majority of the products that we distribute. We believe this enables us to purchase products more economically than most of our competitors. Product is shipped directly by the manufacturers to our branches or customers.

Operations

Facilities

Our network of 155 branches serves metropolitan areas in 31 states and three Canadian provinces. This network has enabled us to effectively and efficiently serve a broad customer base and to achieve a leading market position in each of our core geographic markets.

Operations

Our branch-based model provides each location with a significant amount of autonomy to operate within the parameters of our overall business model. Operations at each branch are tailored to meet the local needs of their customers. Depending on market needs, branches carry from about 1,000 to 10,000 SKUs.

Branch managers are responsible for sales, pricing and staffing activities, and have full operational control of customer service and deliveries. We provide our branch managers with significant incentives that allow them to share in the profitability of their respective branches as well as the company as a whole. Personnel at our corporate operations assist the branches with purchasing, procurement, credit services, information systems support, contract management, accounting and legal services, benefits administration and sales and use tax services.

Distribution/fulfillment process

Our distribution/fulfillment process is initiated upon receiving a request for a contract job order or direct product order from a contractor. Under a contract job order, a contractor typically requests roofing or other construction materials and technical support services. The contractor discusses the project’s requirements with a salesperson and the salesperson provides a price quotation for the package of products and services. Subsequently, the salesperson processes the order and we deliver the products to the customer’s job site.

Fleet

Our distribution infrastructure supports more than 500,000 deliveries annually. To accomplish this, we maintain a dedicated owned fleet of 887 straight trucks, 203 tractors and 410 trailers. Nearly all of our delivery vehicles are equipped with specialized equipment, including 615 truck-mounted forklifts, cranes, hydraulic booms and conveyors, which are necessary to deliver products to rooftop job sites in an efficient and safe manner.

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Our branches focus on providing materials to customers who are located within a two-hour radius of their respective facilities. We make deliveries five days per week.

Management information systems

We have fully integrated management information systems. Our systems are consistently implemented across all our branches, and acquired businesses are promptly moved to our system upon acquisition. Our systems support every major internal operational function, except payroll, providing complete integration of purchasing, receiving, order processing, shipping, inventory management, sales analysis and accounting. All of our domestic branches, except for one of Shelter’s regions, use the same databases within the system, allowing branches to easily acquire products from other branches or schedule deliveries by other branches, greatly enhancing our customer service. Our system also has a sophisticated pricing matrix which allows us to refine pricing by region, branch, type of customer, customer, or even a specific customer project. In addition, our system allows us to monitor all branch and regional performance centrally. We have centralized many functions to leverage our size, including accounts payable, insurance, employee benefits, vendor relations, and banking. We expect to have the remaining Shelter branches integrated early in fiscal 2007.

All of our branches are connected to our IBM AS400 computer network by secure Internet connections or private data lines. We maintain a second IBM AS400 as a disaster recovery system, and information is backed up to this system throughout each business day. We have the capability of electronically switching our domestic operations to the disaster recovery system.

We have created a financial reporting package that allows us to send branches information they can use to compare branch by branch financial performance, which we believe is essential to operating each branch efficiently and more profitably. We have also developed a benchmarking report which enables us to compare all of our branches’ performance in 12 critical areas.

We can place purchase orders electronically with some of our major vendors. The vendors then transmit their invoices electronically to us. Our system automatically matches these invoices with the related purchase orders and schedules payment. Approximately 40% of our inventory purchases are processed electronically. We have the capability to handle customer processing electronically, although most customers prefer ordering through our sales force.

Government regulations

We are subject to regulation by various federal, state, provincial and local agencies. These agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, Interstate Commerce Commission, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We believe we are in compliance in all material respects with existing applicable statutes and regulations affecting environmental issues and our employment, workplace health and workplace safety practices.

Competition

Although we are among the three largest roofing materials distributors in the United States and Canada, the U.S. roofing supply industry is highly competitive. The vast majority of our competition comes from local and regional roofing supply distributors, and, to a much lesser extent, other building supply distributors and “big box” retailers. Among distributors, we compete against a small number of large distributors and many small, local, privately-owned distributors. The principal competitive factors in our business include, but are not limited to, the availability of materials and supplies; technical product knowledge and expertise; advisory or other service capabilities; pricing of products; and availability of

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credit. We generally compete on the basis of product quality, the quality of our services and, to a lesser extent, price. We compete not only for customers within the roofing supply industry but also for personnel.

Employees

As of September 30, 2006, we had 2,641 employees, consisting of 702 in sales and marketing, 219 in branch management, including supervisors, 1,318 warehouse workers and drivers, and 402 general and administrative personnel.

We believe that our employee relations are good. Fourteen of our employees are represented by a labor union and covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Order Backlog

Order backlog is not a material aspect of our business and no material portion of our business is subject to government contracts.

Seasonality

In general, sales and net income are highest during our first, third and fourth fiscal quarters, which represent the peak months of construction, especially in our branches in the northeastern U.S. and in Canada. Our sales are substantially lower during the second quarter, when we usually incur net losses. These quarterly fluctuations have diminished as we have diversified into the southern regions of the United States.

Geographic Data

For geographic data about our business, please see Note 16 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

ITEM 1A.        RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and other information included in this Form 10-K in evaluating us and our business. If any of the events described below occur, our business and financial results could be adversely affected in a material way. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, perhaps significantly.

We may not be able to effectively integrate newly acquired businesses into our operations or achieve expected profitability from our acquisitions.

Our growth strategy includes acquiring other distributors of roofing materials and complementary products. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including:

·       unforeseen difficulties in integrating operations, technologies, services, accounting and personnel;

·       diversion of financial and management resources from existing operations;

·       unforeseen difficulties related to entering geographic regions where we do not have prior experience;

·       potential loss of key employees;

·       unforeseen liabilities associated with businesses acquired; and

·       inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset acquisition or investment costs.

As a result, if we fail to evaluate and execute acquisitions properly, we might not achieve the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions, and we may incur costs in excess of what we anticipate. These risks may be greater in the case of larger acquisitions.

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We may not be able to successfully identify acquisition candidates, which would slow our growth rate.

We continually seek additional acquisition candidates in selected markets and from time to time engage in exploratory discussions with potential candidates. If we are not successful in finding attractive acquisition candidates that we can acquire on satisfactory terms, or if we cannot complete acquisitions that we identify, it is unlikely that we will sustain the historical growth rates of our business.

An inability to obtain the products that we distribute could result in lost revenues and reduced margins and damage relationships with customers.

We distribute roofing and other exterior building materials that are manufactured by a number of major suppliers. Although we believe that our relationships with our suppliers are strong and that we would have access to similar products from competing suppliers should products be unavailable from current sources, any disruption in our sources of supply, particularly of the most commonly sold items, could result in a loss of revenues and reduced margins and damage relationships with customers. Supply shortages may occur as a result of unanticipated demand or production or delivery difficulties. When shortages occur, roofing material suppliers often allocate products among distributors.

Loss of key personnel or our inability to attract and retain new qualified personnel could hurt our ability to operate and grow successfully.

Our success is highly dependent upon the services of Robert Buck, our President and Chief Executive Officer, David Grace, our Chief Financial Officer, and historically Andrew Logie, our Chairman of the Board. Our success will continue to depend to a significant extent on our executive officers and key management personnel, including our regional vice presidents. We do not have key man life insurance covering any of our executive officers. We may not be able to retain our executive officers and key personnel or attract additional qualified management. The loss of any of our executive officers or other key management personnel, or our inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, could hurt our ability to operate and make it difficult to execute our acquisition and internal growth strategies.

A change in vendor rebates could adversely affect our income and gross margins.

The terms on which we purchase product from many of our vendors entitle us to receive a rebate based on the volume of our purchases. These rebates effectively reduce our costs for products. If market conditions change, vendors may adversely change the terms of some or all of these programs. Although these changes would not affect the net recorded costs of product already purchased, it may lower our gross margins on products we sell or income we realize in future periods.

Cyclicality in our business could result in lower revenues and reduced profitability.

We sell a portion of our products for new residential and non-residential construction. The strength of these markets depends on new housing starts and business investment, which are a function of many factors beyond our control, including interest rates, employment levels, availability of credit and consumer confidence. Downturns in the regions and markets we serve could result in lower revenues and, since many of our expenses are fixed, lower profitability. However, new housing starts declined during 2006 and the pace may continue at the lower levels or decline further.

Seasonality in the construction and re-roofing industry generally results in second quarter losses.

Our second quarter is typically adversely affected by winter construction cycles and weather patterns in colder climates as the level of activity in the new construction and re-roofing markets decreases. Because many of our expenses remain relatively fixed throughout the year, we generally record a loss during our second quarter. We expect that these seasonal variations will continue in the future.

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If we encounter difficulties with our management information systems, we could experience problems with inventory, collections, customer service, cost control and business plan execution.

We believe our management information systems are a competitive advantage in maintaining our leadership position in the roofing distribution industry. If we experience problems with our management information systems, we could experience, among other things, product shortages and/or an increase in accounts receivable. Any failure by us to properly maintain our management information systems could adversely impact our ability to attract and serve customers and could cause us to incur higher operating costs and experience delays in the execution of our business plan.

An impairment of goodwill and/or other intangible assets could reduce net income.

Acquisitions frequently result in the recording of goodwill and other intangible assets. At September 30, 2006, goodwill represented approximately 35% of our total assets. Goodwill is no longer amortized and is subject to impairment testing at least annually using a fair-value based approach. The identification and measurement of goodwill impairment involves the estimation of the fair value of our single reporting unit. Our accounting for impairment contains uncertainty because management must use judgment in determining appropriate assumptions to be used in the measurement of fair value. We determine fair value using a market approach to value our business.

We evaluate the recoverability of goodwill for impairment in between our annual tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of goodwill may not be recoverable. Any impairment of goodwill will reduce net income in the period in which the impairment is recognized.

We might need to raise additional capital, which may not be available, thus limiting our growth prospects.

We may require additional equity or further debt financing in order to consummate an acquisition or for additional working capital for expansion or if we suffer losses. In the event additional equity or debt financing is unavailable to us, we may be unable to expand or make acquisitions and our stock price may decline as a result of the perception that we have more limited growth prospects.

ITEM 1B.       UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2.                PROPERTIES

We lease 159 facilities, including our headquarters and other support facilities, throughout the United States and Eastern Canada. These leased facilities range in size from 2,000 square feet to 138,716 square feet. We sublet three facilities. In addition, we own eleven sales/warehouse facilities located in Manchester, New Hampshire; Reading, Pennsylvania; Montreal, Quebec; Sainte-Foy, Quebec; Delson, Quebec; Salisbury, Maryland; Hartford, Connecticut; Cranston, Rhode Island; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Jacksonville, Florida and Easton, Maryland. These owned facilities range in size from 11,500 square feet to 48,900 square feet. All of the owned facilities are mortgaged to our senior lenders. We believe that our properties are in good operating condition and adequately serve our current business operations.

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As of December 1, 2006, our 155 branches and 15 other facilities, including one branch in Texas not yet opened, were located in the following states and provinces:

 

ITEM 3.                LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits that are brought against us in the normal course of business. We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that would be expected, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition.

ITEM 4.                SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

No matters were submitted to a vote of our security holders during the fourth quarter of the year ended September 30, 2006.

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PART II

ITEM 5.                MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock trades on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BECN”. The following table lists quarterly information on the price range of our common stock based on the high and low reported sale prices for our common stock as reported by NASDAQ for the periods indicated below, adjusted for the June 2006 three-for-two stock split.

 

There were 39 holders of record of our common stock as of December 1, 2006.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

No purchases of our equity securities were made by us or affiliated purchasers during the fourth quarter of the year ended September 30, 2006.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Dividends

We have not paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Our board of directors currently intends to retain any future earnings for reinvestment in our business. Our revolving credit facilities currently prohibit the payment of dividends without the prior written consent of our lender. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our results of operations and cash flows, our financial position and capital requirements, general business conditions, legal, tax, regulatory and any contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends, and any other factors our board of directors deems relevant.

ITEM 6.                SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

You should read the following selected financial information together with our financial statements and related notes and “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations” also included in this Form 10-K. We have derived the statement of operations data for the years ended September 30, 2006, September 24, 2005 and September 25, 2004, and the balance sheet information at September 30, 2006 and September 24, 2005, from our audited financial statements included in this Form 10-K. We have derived the statements of operations data for the years ended September 27, 2003 and September 28, 2002, and the balance sheet data at September 25, 2004,

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September 27, 2003 and September 28, 2002, from our audited financial statements not included in this Form 10-K. Certain prior-year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

(1)           The change in value of warrant derivatives represented changes in the fair market value of certain warrants previously issued in connection with debt financings that were redeemed on September 28, 2004.

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ITEM 7.                MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. In addition to historical information, the following discussion and other parts of this Form 10-K contain forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by this forward-looking information due to the factors discussed under “Risk factors,” “Forward-looking statements” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Certain tabular information will not foot due to rounding.

Overview

We are one of the largest distributors of residential and non-residential roofing materials in the United States and Canada. We are also a distributor of other building materials, including siding, windows, specialty lumber products and waterproofing systems for residential and nonresidential building exteriors. We purchase products from a large number of manufacturers and then distribute these goods to a customer base consisting of contractors and, to a lesser extent, general contractors, retailers and building material suppliers.

We carry up to 10,000 SKUs through 155 branches in the United States and Canada. In fiscal year 2006, approximately 93% of our net sales were in the United States. We stock one of the most extensive assortments of high-quality branded products in the industry, enabling us to deliver products to our customers on a timely basis.

Execution of the operating plan at each of our branches drives our financial results. Revenues are impacted by the relative strength of the residential and non-residential roofing markets we serve. We allow each of our branches to develop its own marketing plan and mix of products based upon its local market. We differentiate ourselves from the competition by providing customer services, including job site delivery, tapered insulation layouts and design and metal fabrication, and by providing credit. We consider customer relations and our employees’ knowledge of roofing and exterior building materials to be important to our ability to increase customer loyalty and maintain customer satisfaction. We invest significant resources in training our employees in sales techniques, management skills and product knowledge. While we consider these attributes important drivers of our business, we continually pay close attention to controlling operating costs.

Our growth strategy includes both internal growth (opening branches, growing sales with existing customers, adding new customers and introducing new products) and acquisition growth. Our main acquisition strategy is to target market leaders in geographic areas that we presently do not serve. Our October 2005 acquisition of Shelter and December 2004 acquisition of JGA are examples of this approach. Shelter is a leading distributor of roofing and other building materials which had 51 branches at the time of the acquisition in the Midwest, Central Plains and Southwest, with minimal branch overlap with our existing operations. JGA is a leading Southeast distributor of roofing and other building materials, currently with fifteen branches in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. We also have acquired smaller companies to supplement branch openings within an existing region. Our April 2005 acquisition of Insulation Systems, Inc. of Virginia (“ISI”), which we integrated into our region in the Carolinas, is an example of such an acquisition.

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General

We sell all materials necessary to install, replace and repair residential and non-residential roofs, including:

·       shingles;

·       single-ply roofing;

·       metal roofing and accessories;

·       modified bitumen;

·       built up roofing;

·       insulation;

·       slate and tile;

·       fasteners, coatings and cements; and

·       other roofing accessories.

We also sell complementary building products such as:

·       vinyl siding;

·       doors, windows and millwork;

·       wood and fiber cement siding;

·       residential insulation; and

·       waterproofing systems.

The following is a summary of our net sales by product group for the last three full fiscal years:

 

We have over 38,000 customers, none of which represents more than 0.5% of our net sales. Many of our customers are small to mid-size contractors with relatively limited capital resources. We maintain strict credit approval and review policies, which in the past has helped to keep losses from customer receivables within our expectations. For the past six years, write-offs for doubtful accounts have averaged less than 0.3% of net sales.

Our expenses consist primarily of the cost of products purchased for resale, labor, fleet, occupancy, and selling and administrative expenses. We compete for business and may respond to competitive pressures by lowering prices in order to maintain our market share.

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Since 1997, we have made fourteen strategic and complementary acquisitions and opened 24 new branches. We opened three branches in 2004, six branches in 2005 and six branches in 2006. When we open a new branch, we transfer a certain level of existing business from an existing branch to the new branch. This allows the new branch to commence with a base business and also allows the existing branch to target other growth opportunities.

In managing our business, we consider all growth, including the opening of new branches, to be internal growth unless it is a result of an acquisition. In our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, when we refer to growth in existing markets, we include growth from existing and newly-opened branches but exclude growth from acquired branches until they have been under our ownership for at least four full fiscal quarters at the start of the reporting period. During 2004, 2005 and 2006, our internal sales growth was 16.7%, 15.7% and 14.7%, respectively.

We use a 52/53 week fiscal year ending on the last Saturday of September. Our fiscal years ended September 25, 2004 (“2004”) and September 24, 2005 (“2005”) contained 52 weeks, while the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006 (“2006”) contained 53 weeks.

Results of operations

The following discussion compares our results of operations for 2006, 2005 and 2004.

The following table shows, for the periods indicated, information derived from our consolidated statements of operations expressed as a percentage of net sales for the period presented.

 

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2006 compared to 2005

The following table shows a summary of our results of operations for 2006 and 2005, broken down by existing markets and acquired markets.

For the Fiscal Years Ended

 

Net Sales

Consolidated net sales increased $649.7 million, or 76.4%, to $1,500.6 million in 2006 from $850.9 million in 2005. Existing markets saw internal growth of $111.3 million, or 14.7%, while our 2006 acquisitions contributed the remaining increase. During 2006, we added 65 branches through acquisitions and opened six new branches. In addition, there were four additional business days in 2006, which boosted annual existing market sales by approximately 2.3%. Our acquired markets increased sales by $538.4 million over 2005 and had overall product group sales of $378.4, $132.2 and $123.3 million in residential roofing products, non-residential roofing products, and complementary building products, respectively. A portion of the acquired and existing markets’ business benefited from the Gulf Coast rebuilding that occurred following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The product group sales for our existing markets were as follows:

 

Our existing market growth was due primarily to the following factors:

·       strong residential roofing demand,

·       continued penetration into complementary building products markets,

·       a robust non-residential market, including the impact of large price increases,

·       continued home re-modeling demand,

·       opening of 6 greenfield branches, and

·       overall estimated price increases of approximately 5% to 7%.

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Our first quarter of fiscal year 2007 (“2007”) has five fewer business days than the first quarter of 2006. In addition, since our year-end date, we have experienced a slowdown in the sales growth in some of our existing and acquired markets. After adjusting for the fewer days, our internal sales growth for the first quarter of 2007 through November 30, 2006 showed a slight increase in comparison to 2006, considering that there has been no price inflation. We attribute some of this slowdown to the general slowing of construction activities and some to the fact that sales during the first quarter of 2006 were unusually strong, partly as a result of the extensive re-roofing and reconstruction activities in some of our markets following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Gross Profit

 

Our overall gross profit increased $156.9 million while our overall gross margin was consistent at 24.3%. Our existing markets’ gross profit growth of 15.2% contributed $29.0 million to the total gross profit increase while our acquired markets accounted for the remaining $127.9 million of the increase. Existing markets’ gross margin was 25.4% in 2006 compared to 25.3% in 2005, due mainly to the increase in residential roofing sales as a percentage of total sales in existing markets, which generally have higher gross margins than non-residential roofing sales. Our acquired markets had an overall lower gross margin than our existing markets in 2006, including some unfavorable physical inventory adjustments, which negatively impacted our overall gross margin.

Operating Expenses

 

Operating expenses increased $117.3 million or 80.1% to $263.8 million in 2006 from $146.5 million in 2005. Our acquired markets contributed $110.7 million of this increase while existing markets’ operating expenses increased $6.6 million or 4.9%. The existing markets’ operating expense increase was due primarily to increased payroll and related costs of $7.4 million, or 9.3%. Much of the increase in payroll costs was driven by our increased sales volume. We also hired additional personnel during 2006 to assist with our substantial growth, including additional corporate staff and trainees for future expansion. We adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) 123R, Share-Based Payments, in 2006 and incurred $3.2 million in stock-based compensation associated with stock options as compared to $0.7 million in 2005. We experienced a decrease of $1.4 million in professional fees in 2006, as 2005 included the costs associated with the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. In 2006, we used more internal resources for our Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance compared to 2005. Our bad debts in existing markets decreased $1.5 million as the quality of our accounts receivable improved due to the robust roofing market and improved collection processes and procedures. Most other expenses increased commensurate with our existing markets’ growth, including the six new branches.

Operating expenses increased as a percentage of net sales to 17.6% in 2006 from 17.2% in 2005, primarily due to our acquired markets’ higher operating expenses as a percentage of net sales, including amortization expense that increased approximately $8.5 million. The higher amortization expense primarily resulted from the amortization of the intangible assets recorded for acquired companies’ customer relationships. That impact was partially offset by leveraging our existing markets’ fixed costs over increased net sales.

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