Ingram Micro Announces Record Sales Worldwide : Marketing: Santa Ana firm sold $5.8 billion in computer hardware and software last year, up 44% from 1993. Firm does not disclose its profits.

Boosted by aggressive marketing, several key acquisitions and increased demand for its products, Ingram Micro Inc. on Wednesday reported record worldwide sales of $5.8 billion for 1994.

The privately held company, which distributes computer hardware and software, does not disclose its earnings. In its announcement, Ingram Micro said that sales were up 44% from 1993. For the fourth quarter, sales were almost $1.9 billion, a 57% increase from the final three months of 1993.

Sales in Europe topped $1 billion for the first times, said Linwood A. (Chip) Lacy Jr., Ingram Micro’s co-chairman and chief executive. The growth was aided by the company’s acquisitions of Keylan S.A., a leading distributor in Spain, and Datateam, one of Scandinavia’s largest distributors with operations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

One sour spot for the company is Mexico, where the Dec. 20 devaluation of the peso caused sales to drop significantly in the final days of the year.

Though Mexican sales were up 58% for all of 1994, Lacy said, “it is difficult for us to predict the specific effect the peso devaluation will have on our business for the remainder of 1995. In the short term, we are experiencing a substantial weakness in sales.”

The company, based in Santa Ana, has 5,600 employees and is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of microcomputer products. It offers 30,000 products from more than 850 hardware and software companies to a network of 70,000 retailers.

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Still Growing

Ingram Micro reported a record sales increase of 57% for the fourth quarter and 45% for 1994. Annual revenue, in billions:

1995: 8.40*

* Projection

Source: Ingram Micro; Researched by VALERIE WILLIAMS-SANCHEZ / Los Angeles Times