Anixter Q1 2012 Security Sales Reviewed

As one of the biggest distributors in security, Anixter is a bellweather for the broader IP video surveillance market. Over the past few years, Anixter has been expanding robustly in the security market, with growth close to 20% (see Q4 2010 and Q1 2011 results). However, how is growth trending now? In this note, we examine the just released Q1 2012 results to see if any trends can be discerned.

Results

Focusing on the security segment performance, the call transcript notes:

• "Security growth continued across all geographies, reflecting both continued investment in security and the shift of sophisticated, Internet Protocol-based systems. Security growth during the quarter increased 10% organically compared to prior year with growth in the emerging markets of approximately 26%."
• Security "accounted for 26% of [their] worldwide Enterprise Cabling and Security end market for the quarter." That puts their security business on pace for an $800+ Million year.
• In the previous quarter (Q4 2011), security grew year over year 8%

Anixter's security business now appears to be growing in the 8-10% range, lower than last year when growth rate was approximately double that. However, with the limited detail disclosed, it is not possible to definitely categorize trends or causes.