Stanley Works 2Q profit falls 7 percent

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) - Tool maker The Stanley Works said Monday that its second-quarter profit fell nearly 7 percent, as it tries to weather a storm of rocky economic conditions that have forced many customers to close their pocketbooks. For the April-through June quarter, the company earned $79.6 million, or $1 per share. That's down from year-ago results, when the company earned $85.3 million, or $1.01 per share. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $1.15 billion from $1.10 billion last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted a profit of $1.02 per share on revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter. Meanwhile, executives said the company was implementing "contingency plans" that would have pretax benefits of $20 million this year. "As expected, U.S. market conditions remained challenging during the second quarter,"... [read full story]