EXHIBIT 99.1

ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. REPORTS SECOND QUARTER NET INCOME FROM

CONTINUING OPERATIONS OF $1.28 PER DILUTED SHARE ON SALES OF $1.58 BILLION

GLENVIEW, IL, July 24, 2012 – Anixter International Inc. (NYSE: AXE), a leading global distributor of communication and security products, electrical and electronic wire & cable, fasteners and other small parts, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 29, 2012.

Financial Results From Continuing Operations (excluding the Aerospace Hardware results)

(In millions, except per share amounts)

Second Quarter Highlights

Exclusive of the above items, sales increased by 4 percent organically.

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Second Quarter Sales Trends

Commenting on second quarter sales trends, Robert Eck, President and CEO, stated, “Our slower revenue growth was primarily driven by persistent softness in the data infrastructure market coupled with a reduction in production rates by several OEM Supply customers. We believe this is due to the uncertain macro economic environment, reflected in lower levels of both corporate and consumer spending. Our Electrical Wire & Cable business grew at a faster year-over-year rate in the second quarter than the first quarter while our Enterprise Cabling and Security and OEM Supply businesses experienced slower year-over-year growth than in the first quarter. A stronger US dollar and lower copper prices contributed to the slower revenue growth rate. These factors resulted in a sequential quarter growth rate of 3.6 percent, which is below our longer term historical trend.”

“Our strategic growth initiatives, combined with strong day-to-day execution, enabled us to improve our competitive position across our end markets in spite of the macro economic headwinds,” continued Eck. These efforts helped bolster our sales performance, particularly within our North American segment, which delivered 5 percent year-on-year organic sales growth, the highest rate among our geographic reporting segments. Within our end markets, the Electrical Wire & Cable business delivered the highest organic sales growth rate with 9 percent improvement year-on-year. Despite a slowdown in activity, Enterprise Cabling and Security Solutions and OEM Supply each delivered 2 percent organic sales growth over the prior year quarter.”

Second Quarter Operating Results

“Our focus on cost management continues to enable us to deliver solid operating performance,” commented Eck. “We also delivered another quarter of positive organic sales growth in every geographic segment including Europe, which is worth noting given the very weak economic environment that persists in that region. In addition, second quarter operating expenses of $268.0 million were 17.0 percent of sales, matching that of the prior year quarter and resulting from strong cost management actions, despite expense increases due to higher pension benefit costs.”

Company-wide operating margin of 5.7 percent was down 20 basis points from the year ago quarter and was flat sequentially.

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North America operating margin of 7.0 percent in the current quarter compares to 7.2 percent in the prior year quarter. This 20 basis point decline along with the sequential decline of 10 basis points was driven primarily by lower gross margin partially offset by strong cost management actions.

Europe operating margin of 0.3 percent in the current quarter reflected a 130 basis point decline from the prior year quarter. The impact of the weak economy in this region, combined with the stronger U.S. dollar, put significant pressure on revenue while also contributing to the unfavorable operating expense leverage. Sequentially, operating margin was 100 basis points lower.

Emerging Markets operating margin of 5.6 percent in the current quarter compares to 4.6 percent in the prior year quarter driven by improved product mix. Sequentially, operating margin improved by 110 basis points driven by the normal seasonal increases in revenue combined with realizing the benefits of our strategic investments in this segment.

Cash Flow and Leverage

“Our strong cash generation in a period of slower year-on-year revenue growth reflects our disciplined working capital and cash management processes,” commented Ted Dosch, Executive Vice-President – Finance. “We paid a special dividend of $4.50 per common share during the quarter to return excess capital to our shareholders. During the second quarter, we also completed the previously announced seven year $350 million senior notes offering and, at the end of the quarter, we closed on the acquisition of Jorvex S.A., a Peruvian Electrical Wire & Cable distributor. The acquisition represents an important step in our Emerging Markets growth initiative while also leveraging Anixter’s existing geographical presence and logistics capabilities in this key Latin American region.”

“With a quarter-end cash balance of $152.0 million and an expectation of continuing positive cash flow for the remainder of 2012, we will continue to evaluate the optimal use of our funds,” continued Dosch. “Going forward, we will maintain flexibility to utilize future cash flows to invest in the growth of the business, capitalize on strategic acquisition opportunities as they arise and selectively return capital to shareholders through share repurchases.”

The impact of the $350 million bond offering in the quarter is reflected in the following key capital structure and credit-related statistics for the second quarter:

Business Outlook

Eck concluded, “Our outlook for 2012 remains positive. We continue to be very well positioned to leverage our global supply chain platform in what has once again become a very volatile global economy. While global markets, particularly in Europe, are difficult to predict in the current economic climate, our strategic growth initiatives position us well to continue to expand our leadership position within the industry. In this more uncertain environment we continue to manage expenses and working capital carefully, while pursuing strategic investments to build our business.”

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Second Quarter Earnings Call

Anixter will broadcast a conference call discussing these results at 9:30 am central time on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. The call will be Webcast by CCBN and can be accessed at the investor relations portion of Anixter’s Website at www.anixter.com. The Webcast also will be available over CCBN’s Investor Distribution Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call through CCBN’s individual investor center at www.companyboardroom.com, or by visiting any of the investor sites in CCBN’s Individual Investor Network (such as America Online’s Personal Finance Channel and Fidelity.com). Institutional investors can access the call via CCBN’s password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com). The Webcast will be archived on all of these sites for 30 days.

About Anixter

Anixter International is a leading global distributor of communication and security products, electrical and electronic wire & cable, fasteners and other small parts. The company adds value to the distribution process by providing its customers access to 1) innovative inventory management programs, 2) more than 450,000 products and over $1 billion in inventory, 3) approximately 225 warehouses with 7 million square feet of space, and 4) locations in over 260 cities in more than 50 countries. Founded in 1957 and headquartered near Chicago, Anixter trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXE.

Safe Harbor Statement

The statements in this news release that use such words as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “contemplate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “may,” “will,” or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. They are subject to a number of factors that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from what is indicated here. These factors include general economic conditions, the level of customer demand particularly for capital projects in the markets we serve, changes in supplier sales strategies or financial viability, risks associated with the sale of nonconforming products and services, political, economic or currency risks related to foreign operations, inventory obsolescence, copper price fluctuations, customer viability, risks associated with accounts receivable, the impact of regulation and regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, and risks associated with integration of acquired companies. These uncertainties may cause our actual results to be materially different than those expressed in any forward looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward looking statements. Please see the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings for more information.

Additional information about Anixter is available on the Internet at

www.anixter.com

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ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

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ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

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Financial Measures That Supplement GAAP

This report includes certain financial measures computed using non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“non-GAAP”) components as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Company believes this information is useful to investors in order to provide a better understanding of the organic growth trends of the Company on a comparable basis. Management does not use these non-GAAP financial measures for any purpose other than the reason stated above.

Organic revenue growth measures revenue excluding the effects of foreign exchange and copper pricing for comparison of current period results with the corresponding period of the prior year. The Company believes that this measure provides management and investors with a more complete understanding of underlying operating results and trends of established, ongoing operations by excluding the effect of foreign exchange and copper pricing, which activities are subject to volatility and can obscure underlying trends. Management recognizes that the term “organic revenue growth” may be interpreted differently by other companies and under different circumstances. Although this may have an effect on comparability of absolute percentage growth from company to company, the Company believes that these measures are useful in assessing trends of the Company business and may therefore be a useful tool in assessing period-to-period performance trends.

In August 2011, the Company sold its Aerospace Hardware business (“Aerospace”). As a result of the divestiture, results of the business are reflected in “Discontinued Operations” and all prior periods have been revised to reflect this classification.

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