Stanley Works to Post Profit Increase of 7% For the Third Quarter
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Stanley Works expects to report that third-quarter net income rose about 7% on a sales gain of 1%, reflecting five years of cost cuts and controls, Donald Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, said.</br></br>The maker of hardware, tools and industrial products said profit increased to about $19.4 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with year-earlier earnings of $18.1 million, or 65 cents a share. Sales rose to more than $297 million from $294.6 million.</br></br>Stanley Works also expects "modest improvement" in fourth-quarter profit and record results for all of 1985, Mr. Davis said.</br></br>The company plans to increase 1986 capital spending about 20% from this year to $58 million or $59 million. It also is seeking acquisitions, he said.</br></br>The third-quarter profit increase stems "simply from improved margins, which result from all the efforts to hold or reduce expenses over the last several years," Mr. Davis said in an interview. The efforts included plant consolidation and inventory reductions. From 1981 through 1984, productivity -- output in units per employee -- improved 22%, Mr. Davis said.