Higher sales boosted Peabody’s Beacon Roofing Supply Inc.’s third quarter net income to $24.1 million – an improvement from $16.3 million during the same period last year.

The higher net income was also due to higher gross margin rate, as well as lower interest expense, partially offset by the impact from higher operating expenses and a higher income tax provision.

"We had a record third quarter, with most of our regions achieving strong year-over-year results and beating our expectations," said Paul Isabella, the company’s president and chief executive officer. "Both our residential and non-residential product sales showed double-digit percentage increases, while our complementary product sales were up against business that was favorably impacted by short-term tax incentives last year. Our roofing businesses benefited from a pick-up in volume during the quarter, including some hail storm business, and from industry-wide price increases, although our commercial business has remained consistently strong throughout this year. We were able to use our strong financial position to increase inventories ahead of some vendor price increases, which enabled us to achieve more normal gross margins that were significantly above last year’s low rates. We also were able to leverage our expenses to further improve our operating margin."

Total sales increased 14 percent to $540.7 million in the third quarter 2011, a record for a third quarter, from $474.3 million in 2010.

Year-to-date net income was $28 million compared to $17.7 million in 2010, an improvement of 58.3 percent. The higher net income was also due to the higher sales, a higher gross margin and lower interest expense, partially offset by the impact from higher operating expenses and a higher income tax provision.