BAMKO (asi/131431), a Top 40 promotional products distributor, tallied total global sales of about $65.4 million in the first quarter of 2022, an 11.1% increase compared to the same three-month span the prior year.

In financial results released Wednesday, May 4, the Los Angeles-based distributorship’s parent firm, Superior Group of Companies, noted that BAMKO’s gain was driven by strong performance in core promotional products sales, which netted a gain of 38% in Q1 2022, compared to the first quarter of 2021, to nearly $61.76 million.

Michael Benstock, Superior Group of Companies

The remaining $3.67 million or so in BAMKO Q1 revenue came from sales of personal protective equipment, a year-over-year decrease of 74% as demand for PPE has dropped sharply over the last year amid the evolving dynamics of the COVID-19 era.

Michael Benstock, CEO of Superior Group, shared that the company is completely integrating its BAMKO-led promotional products division and its uniform segment – work that’s already been underway.

“We have been very pleased with the integration of our branded uniforms and branded-merchandise sales forces, and this strategy is on pace to drive meaningful growth opportunities,” Benstock said. “We have already won a number of opportunities that will contribute to the growth of the uniform segment in the latter part of 2022 and increase our pipeline of opportunities, as well.”

Beyond growing sales and pushing deeper into the uniform channel, BAMKO has been busy making acquisitions.

On May 2, the firm announced the acquisition of Guardian Products (asi/215500), a $23 million distributorship that’s a leading provider of promo solutions to automotive dealers nationwide. That acquisition complemented the December purchase of Sutter’s Mill Specialties (asi/340210), another distributorship with a strong presence in the automotive niche.

In January 2021, BAMKO acquired Seattle-based Gifts By Design (asi/205947), a branded-merchandise agency that specializes in corporate awards, incentives and recognition programs for some of the world’s biggest brands.

Across all its divisions, Superior Group increased Q1 sales 1.9% year over year to $143.6 million. Excluding PPE sales, revenue for the quarter was up nearly 22%.

Superior’s Q1 net income was $5.2 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared to $10.5 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2021. The decline in earnings came, in part, due to significant investments Superior said it’s making and pressure on operating margins.

“We are investing in building our management team to match the tremendous growth that we have experienced over the last two years,” Benstock explained. “While this has a short-term impact of increased expenses, we are confident that this investment will pay significant dividends in our results as we continue to achieve significant revenue growth. Operating margins also continue to be pressured by the impact of supply chain and logistics disruptions, as well as the impact of higher inflation on expenses in general. We remain very confident in our stated goal to consistently achieve operating margins in excess of 10% of revenues by 2024."

With reported 2020 North American promo product revenue of $193.9 million, BAMKO ranked 11^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.