New Britain tool maker Stanley Works posted a fourth-quarter profit that beat market estimates, helped in part by cost cuts and lower commodity costs, and said it is projecting very modest market-driven improvement, Reuters reports.
The company expects restructuring, impairment and related charges to remain relatively flat in 2010, Reuters said.
Stanley Works, which struck a deal to buy rival Black & Decker Corp. late last year, said it sees 2010 earnings of $3 to $3.25 per share, excluding all impact of the transaction, Reuters reported.
It expects 2010 net sales to rise 2 percent to 4 percent from 2009 levels. Revenue was $3.74 billion in 2009.
The tax rate is expected to return to normal historic levels in 2010, Stanley Works said in a statement. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $3.04 a share on revenue of $3.79 billion for 2010, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Stanley Works — whose brands include the Stanley line, Bostitch, Proto and Mac Tools — supplies tools, hardware and security systems.
The deal with Black & Decker is expected to close toward the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter.
For the fourth quarter, Stanley Works reported net income from continuing operations of $54.4 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with $4.1 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago.
Excluding charges related to the Black & Decker transaction, the company earned 89 cents a share.
