Black & Decker Corp. Earnings Fall and More Layoffs

We are up to 100,000 layoff in the U.S. this week.....and its only Wednesday, sweet and sour results from The Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE:BDK) today.

The Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE:BDK) said Thursday that it earned $44 million in the fourth quarter, or 73 cents a share, compared to $184 million, or $2.94, in the same period a year ago. Sales were $1.38 billion compared to $1.65 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 68 cents and sales of $1.40 billion. Black & Decker sees first-quarter earnings per share of 5 cents to 15 cents and full-year 2009 earnings of $1.75 to $2.25 a share.

Every division at Black & Decker saw double-digit sales declines in the fourth quarter. Power tool sales dropped by 13 percent, as weak construction spending hit the industrial side of the business and slow personal spending nailed the consumer side. Hardware and home improvement sales also took a beating from the construction slowdown, and sales in Black & Decker’s fastening and assembly systems business slumped on global cutbacks in automotive production.

In response, Black & Decker slashed 1,200 jobs during the quarter, with two-thirds of the cuts affecting its manufacturing operations. Less than 5 percent of the job cuts came in Greater Baltimore, spokesman Roger Young said Thursday, without providing local layoff numbers.