4imprint (asi/197045) is back in growth mode, according to just-released financial data from the publicly traded company.

The North American promotional products industry’s third-largest distributor by revenue generated total global sales of $326.8 million during the first six months of 2021. That’s a 23% increase over the same half-year period during 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns caused business to plummet.

After-tax profit rose too, tallying $2.56 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the January-through-end-of-June span. Last year, profit for the same period was $21,000, or less than a cent.

Paul Moody, 4imprint

Headquartered in London, UK, 4imprint has its main operations in Wisconsin and produces the vast majority of its sales in North America. The North American market led 4imprint’s rebound, with half-year revenue of $321.7 million. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, 4imprint’s half-year sales declined year-over-year, from $5.27 million in 2020 to $5.11 million in 2021.

While 4imprint bounced back from the COVID lows of early 2020, the company is not yet generating sales at the pace it did prior to the pandemic. For the first six months of 2019, total global revenue was $405 million, meaning 2021’s half-year tally was down nearly 20% compared to that period.

Still, 4imprint executives are optimistic about the company’s future.

“The impact of the pandemic will continue to be felt in various ways for some time to come, but the significant rebound in demand seen in recent months gives confirmation that our strategy remains fully relevant, and that our markets are attractive and ready to be addressed via our agile and resilient low fixed-cost business model,” said 4imprint Chairman Paul Moody.

4imprint noted that the number of half-year 2021 orders it processed reached 616,000. That was down from 2019’s 778,000, but up considerably from 2020’s 470,000. The firm further shared that July 2021 order counts, which will be part of the second half of the year’s results, were running above 2019 levels. Carrying no debt, 4imprint has a cash balance of $52.8 million, up from $37.49 million the year prior.

Executives shared that supply chain issues, which have plagued the promotional products business and other industries, are likely to cause some problems through the end of the year.

Nearly 20 months ago the #promoproducts industry was fretting over factory closures in China due to COVID. Now with the spread of the delta variant, that scenario is repeating, placing additional strain on a decimated supply chain.
https://t.co/TJUKDhTYp1

— C.J. Mittica (@CJ_ASIMedia) August 10, 2021

“Challenges in the second half of the year from global logistical issues are expected to cause sporadic disruption in the availability of some of the products that we sell, as well as increasing transportation costs,” 4imprint said in a note on its earnings.

Going up! #Promproducts distributors' quarterly sales increased year over year for the 1st time since 2019 in Q2. Distributors are the most confident they've been since before #pandemic. https://t.co/JN1mZ5T9CS @Tim_Andrews_ASI @ASI_MBell @asicentral @Melissa_ASI

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) August 9, 2021

4imprint’s performance in the half-year was in line with the overall performance of promo distributors during the second quarter of 2021. During that April through June period, distributors increased year-over-year sales, on average, by 27.3%. Still, revenue was down, on average, by nearly 30% from the same three-month stretch in 2019.

According to Counselor’s Top 40 rankings, 4imprint had been promo’s largest distributor for three straight years before falling to third this year, following a 34.5% revenue freefall that saw the firm bring in $549.9 million in annual North American promo sales in 2020.