2nd quarter sales down at Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker's net sales in the second quarter of 2020 came to 3.1 billion US dollars, 16 per cent down on the same period in the previous year. The company attributes this development to a downturn in the market as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In regional terms, sales in North America fell by 10 per cent, in Europe by 21 per cent and in emerging markets by nearly a third (29 per cent) despite booming e-commerce business.
In view of the uncertainty surrounding the effects of Covid-19, Stanley Black & Decker has revised its forecast for the year as a whole downwards. It is sticking with the cost reduction programme of 1 billion US dollars that it announced at the time of the forecast, however. The programme is intended to achieve cost savings amounting to 500 million US dollars in 2020. Savings of 175 million dollars had already been realised in the second quarter of 2020, according to information from the company.