Following a strong close to 2016, New Jersey-based Newell Brands, parent company of Top 40 supplier Sanford Business-to-Business (asi/84833), has announced that its Q1 2017 net sales were $3.3 billion, a 148% year-over-year gain. The large increases were buoyed by gains from Newell’s 2016 merger with consumer products company Jarden Corp. Newell’s core sales, which exclude the impact of foreign currency, acquisitions and divestitures, increased by 2.5% in Q1.

“Our first-quarter results provide strong evidence of our team’s capacity to perform while we transform,” said Newell Brands CEO Michael Polk. “We have had a good start to 2017 and are on our way to unlock the transformative value creation associated with our long-term guidance.”

Within reporting categories, Newell’s Live (including appliances, baby and food) segment generated Q1 net sales of $1.1 billion, its Work (commercial, Waddington) segment produced net sales of $614 million, and its Play (outdoor) segment brought in sales of $628 million.

While the company did not break out its promotional products revenue, it reported that its Learn segment – which includes writing instruments – generated first-quarter net sales of $569 million, a 47.9% increase compared with $385 million in the prior year. Category core sales rose 7.6%, driven by strong results from writing and Jostens, Newell said.

Besides sales increases, Newell reported Q1 2017 diluted earnings per share of $1.31 versus $0.15 in Q1 2016, an operating margin of 4.8%, and operating cash use of $289 million compared with a use of $261 million a year ago.

The company also reaffirmed its 2017 sales guidance, forecasting full-year revenues to be in the range of $14.52 to $14.72 billion, representing 9.5% to 11% growth. “We are confident that simultaneous growth and margin development fueled by savings and synergies will generate strong cash flow, leading to rapid deleveraging and then more aggressive value-creating uses of capital,” Polk said.

In its most recent listing, Counselor ranked Sanford Business-to-Business as the 37th largest supplier in the industry, with estimated 2015 North American sales of $39.8 million.