Top 40 firm BAMKO (asi/131431) reported a 6% year-over-year increase in sales and a 32% rise in before-tax earnings in the first quarter of 2024, according to a financial report released on Tuesday, May 7.

The Los Angeles-headquartered promotional products distributor’s sales rose to nearly $87.1 million in Q1, up from about $81.8 million in the same three-month span the year prior. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) tallied about $9.95 million, a jump from last year’s $7.51 million.

Jake Himelstein, BAMKO (asi/131431)

BAMKO President Jake Himelstein, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, told ASI Media that a rise in spend from clients in markets whose promo investment was down last year – technology and finance included – helped drive the revenue increase. So did the fact that BAMKO gained market share, Himelstein said.

“We had a great start to the year in the first quarter and we're excited about what it means for the year ahead,” Himelstein shared. He identified factors like strong customer retention, increased “wallet share” from existing clients and heightened RFP activity as indicators of a good 2024 ahead.

BAMKO’s before-tax earnings increase in Q1 continued a trend from 2023. While the firm’s sales fell 12% on an annual basis in 2023 to about $342.7 million, BAMKO still managed to increase EBITDA year over year. The first quarter of 2024 continued “the positive trajectory for BAMKO's profitability that the company has been on since last summer,” Himelstein said.

The company’s Q1 sales performance outpaced the industry average. The Distributor Quarterly Sales Survey from ASI Research showed that distributors, on average, experienced a 0.9% decline in sales in the first quarter. The industry’s largest distributors – those generating more than $5 million in revenue annually – bucked the downward trend, collectively increasing revenue 2.5% on an annual basis in Q1. BAMKO is among those extra-large distributors.

#Promoproducts distributors streak of 11 quarters of sales increases ended in Q1, but an upturn in business toward quarter's end & in Q2 has firms hopeful for revenue expansion over the course of the full year, ASI Research showshttps://t.co/rNrjoqqJnj@NKucsma_ASI @asicentral

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) May 6, 2024

BAMKO’s Q1 sales numbers were part of a larger quarterly financial report from its publicly traded parent company, Florida-based Superior Group of Companies (SGC). Across SGC’s three business segments, which include healthcare apparel and contact centers in addition to BAMKO, the company increased net sales 6.2% year over year in Q1 2024 to $138.8 million.

Net income was about $3.9 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, compared to $0.9 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for last year’s Q1.

“To capitalize on gradually improving underlying trends across our attractive end markets, our team’s focus is on strong customer service and retention,” said Michael Benstock, CEO of SGC.

Based on reported 2022 North American promotional product revenue of $387.9 million, BAMKO ranked eigth on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. The new rankings are due out this summer.