4imprint (asi/197045) says it’s on track to become a billion-dollar distributor this year.

In a trading update issued May 5, the promotional products industry’s third-largest distributor by revenue said that strong sales through the first four months of 2022, taken along with a currently positive outlook for the rest of year, have the firm on track to reach a longtime goal of $1 billion in annual total revenue.

David Seekings, 4imprint

“We are pleased to update the market that we have continued to see excellent demand activity, resulting in a very strong financial performance,” said David Seekings, chief financial officer of 4imprint, which operates a web-based e-commerce business model.  

From January through April, 4imprint’s order counts in its main geographic market, North America, were up 11% compared to 2019 – the last pre-pandemic “normal” year and one in which 4imprint had its greatest-ever annual revenue performance of $860.84 million in total global sales (includes North America, U.K. and Ireland). Notably, average order values are up 14% in 2022 compared to 2019, helping overall demand revenue to so far be 27% over 2019.

“This building momentum in trading means we’re now on track in the 2022 financial year to achieve our long-held target of $1 billion in revenue,” said Seekings, adding in a note to investors that annual operating profit is poised to surpass analysts’ current highest forecasts for 4imprint.

Despite the sunny outlook, 4imprint sounded notes of caution as well. The firm’s board acknowledged that variables such as potential new COVID-19 variants, supply chain disruption, inventory availability, rising product costs, labor shortages, the impact of inflation on customers’ budgets and the general threat of recession could affect the rise to $1 billion in sales. Still, Seekings asserted that the positive forecast on sales takes into account “current visibility” on such factors.

Based in London, U.K., 4imprint’s main operations are in Oshkosh, WI, and the vast majority of its sales occur in North America.

Prior to the onset of COVID, 4imprint was promo’s largest distributor by revenue in North America. Amid the COVID challenges of 2020, however, the firm’s total global sales plunged 35% year over year to $560 million, while its North American business in particular plummeted 34% to $549.9 million.

4imprint wasn’t down for long, though. The firm increased total global revenue 41% year over year to $787 million in 2021. Revenue from the North American market composed most of that tally, coming in at $773.7 million, also a rise of 41%.