Stanley Black & Decker Q2 Sales +8%

[Wednesday, July 18, 2012]  Net sales for the period were $2.8 billion, up 8% versus prior year, attributable to price (+1%), volume (+1%) and acquisitions (+10%), which were partially offset by currency (-4%).

Net earnings for the quarter fell to $154.8 million from $197.3 million in the year-ago period.

Stanley Black & Decker’s President and CEO, John F. Lundgren, commented: “Returning cash to our shareholders continues to be a significant component of our capital allocation strategy. The 20% dividend increase and share repurchase program we announced today reflects our sensitivity to shareholder value creation and confidence in the cash generation potential of the company for both the near term and the future. These actions, partnered with our proven ability to operate, acquire, integrate and successfully grow businesses, are core to our shareholder value proposition. Our $5 billion CDIY franchise provided strong evidence with 5% organic growth, absent meaningful help from the global markets it serves, and a 15.7% operating margin, indicative of the ongoing achievement of cost and revenue synergies as well as a series of highly successful new product introductions in the post-merger era. I am also pleased to announce today that we have upgraded our cost synergy estimate for the Black & Decker integration to $500 million from $450 million, up $50 million and our third major upgrade from our original estimate of $350 million.” Read More ...