NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 24, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on The Stanley Works (A/Negative/A-1) are unchanged following the company's announcement of weaker second-quarter earnings. The disappointing performance resulted from lower consumer sales caused by customer inventory reductions, continued soft demand in industrial channels, and the closure of Mac Direct. The company's operating margins, which have suffered over the past few quarters, improved compared with the first quarter. However, further recovery may be slower than previously expected because of volume shortfalls, despite cost reduction efforts. Although Stanley repaid $55 million of debt during the quarter with excess foreign cash and cash from operations, total debt increased $158 million because the company
