Black & Decker 2010 Annual Report Download - page 61

Company’s efforts to manage freight costs, steel and other commodity costs; (xix) the Company’s ability to
sustain or increase prices in order to, among other things, offset or mitigate the impact of steel, freight, energy,
non-ferrous commodity and other commodity costs and any inflation increases; (xx) the Company’s ability to
generate free cash flow and maintain a strong debt to capital ratio; (xxi) the Company’s ability to identify and
effectively execute productivity improvements and cost reductions, while minimizing any associated restructur-
ing charges; (xxii) the Company’s ability to obtain favorable settlement of routine tax audits; (xxiii) the ability
of the Company to generate earnings sufficient to realize future income tax benefits during periods when
temporary differences become deductible; (xxiv) the continued ability of the Company to access credit and
equity markets under satisfactory terms; and (xxv) the Company’s ability to negotiate satisfactory payment
terms under which the Company buys and sells goods, services, materials and products.
The Company’s ability to deliver the Results is also dependent upon: (i) the success of the Company’s
marketing and sales efforts; (ii) the ability of the Company to maintain or improve production rates in the
Company’s manufacturing facilities, respond to significant changes in product demand and fulfill demand for
new and existing products; (iii) the Company’s ability to continue improvements in working capital through
effective management of accounts receivable and inventory levels; (iv) the ability to continue successfully
managing and defending claims and litigation, including environmental claims and expenses; (v) the success
of the Company’s efforts to mitigate any cost increases generated by, for example, increases in the cost of
energy or significant Chinese Renminbi or other currency appreciation; (vi) the geographic distribution of the
Company’s earnings; (vii) the Company’s investment of revenues in infrastructure improvements; (viii) the
commitment to and success of the Stanley Fulfillment System.
The Company’s ability to achieve the Results will also be affected by external factors. These external factors
include: pricing pressure and other changes within competitive markets; the continued consolidation of
customers particularly in consumer channels; inventory management pressures on the Company’s customers;
the impact the tightened credit markets may have on the Company or its customers or suppliers; the extent to
which the Company has to write off accounts receivable or assets or experiences supply chain disruptions in
connection with bankruptcy filings by customers or suppliers; increasing competition; changes in laws,
regulations and policies that affect the Company, including, but not limited to trade, monetary, tax and fiscal
policies and laws; the timing and extent of any inflation or deflation; currency exchange fluctuations; the
impact of dollar/foreign currency exchange and interest rates on the competitiveness of products and the
Company’s debt program; the strength of the U.S. and European economies; the extent to which world-wide
markets associated with homebuilding and remodeling stabilize and rebound; the impact of events that cause
or may cause disruption in the Company’s manufacturing, distribution and sales networks such as war, terrorist
activities, and political unrest; and recessionary or expansive trends in the economies of the world in which the
Company operates, including, but not limited to, the extent and duration of the current recession in the US
economy and fluctuations in the securities markets.
Unless required by applicable federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereof.
Investors are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures made on related subjects in the Company’s
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition to the foregoing, some of the agreements included as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K
(whether incorporated by reference to earlier filings or otherwise) may contain representations and warranties,
recitals or other statements that appear to be statements of fact. These agreements are included solely to
provide investors with information regarding their terms and are not intended to provide any other factual or
disclosure information about the Company or the other parties to the agreements. Representations and
warranties, recitals, and other common disclosure provisions have been included in the agreements solely for
the benefit of the other parties to the applicable agreements and often are used as a means of allocating risk
among the parties.
Accordingly, such statements (i) should not be treated as categorical statements of fact; (ii) may be qualified
by disclosures that were made to the other parties in connection with the negotiation of the applicable
agreements, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreement or included as exhibits hereto;
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