Top 40 distributor Stran & Company (asi/337725) says unaudited financial results show the firm increased sales approximately 17% on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2024.

The preliminary word – a projection – on the publicly traded promotional products distributor’s Q1 performance comes following a financial reporting delay that resulted from the firm’s former auditor running afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Stran has a new auditor, Marcum LLP, but official audited results aren’t ready yet. The Quincy, MA-based firm said it’s working with Marcum to complete the full-picture financial report, but didn’t give an exact timeframe on when the numbers will be available.

Stran didn’t provide a precise revenue number for Q1 2024 in its preliminary results update. In Q1 2023, Stran generated about $15.8 million in revenue. A 17% increase on that would put this year’s first-quarter topline sales in the range of $18.5 million.

CEO Andy Shape, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, said that adding new clients and increasing business with existing customers helped propel the revenue rise.

“We are pleased to report we project strong growth,” said Shape, Counselor’s 2023 Person of the Year. “We expect these results despite a challenging market for our industry, which reflects our strong reputation and increasing market share.” ASI Research shows that, industrywide, distributors’ sales collectively declined nearly 1% year over year in Q1.

An auditor of publicly traded companies ran afoul of the SEC for alleged fraud, and that's causing headaches for the company's unfortunate clients (who did no wrong), including a Top 40 #promoproducts firm. https://t.co/Uemm8Jf2zt

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) May 15, 2024