Peabody-based Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. saw quarterly profits slip to $16.3 million, down 5 percent from a year earlier, as the company’s CEO said the economy wasn’t rebounding as quickly as expected.

"Our third quarter results fell short of our expectations as market conditions did not improve to the extent anticipated and this continued to put unusual pressure on our gross margin," said Robert Buck, Beacon Roofing Supply’s chairman and CEO. "However, our total sales increased as we were active with our acquisition program and our non-residential roofing and complementary product sales were up sharply. We also reduced our existing market operating expenses. We believe we are well positioned to leverage a future pick-up in our residential roofing business, and we started to see gains in a few of our regions that had been hit especially hard by the economic downturn."

Beacon Roofing Supply’s fiscal year begins on September 1. Year-to-date net income is down 47 percent from 2009’s levels.