Illinois Tool falls on lowered 1st quarter forecast

Illinois Tool Works Inc., the maker of Hobart food mixers and Duo-Fast nail guns, fell in early New York trading after saying first-quarter earnings will be lower than it previously predicted.

Illinois Tool fell $1.85, or 6.6 percent, to $26 at 8:22 a.m., before the regular open of New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares lost 42 percent in 12 months through March 13.

Operating revenue fell 21 percent for the three months ended Feb. 28 because of lower demand in North America, Europe and Asia in January and February, the Glenview-based company said in a statement today. Revenue also was hurt by changes in currency translations, Illinois Tool said.

Illinois Tool now sees profit of 8 cents to 16 cents a share from continuing operations instead of its Feb. 16 forecast of 26 cents to 42 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 31 cents.

Standard & Poor's last week cut the company's long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings to "A+" from "AA-" because of "persisting weak demand in its key industrial markets." S&P also lowered the short-term and commercial paper ratings to "A-1" from "A-1+".