GLENVIEW, Ill. — Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) has reported that third quarter 2009 operating revenues of $3.6 billion were 19.8 percent lower than the year ago period but better than the 2009 second quarter as worldwide end markets continued to stabilize, or in some cases, modestly improved.

The company’s base revenues declined 17.9 percent in the 2009 third quarter versus a year ago, with North American base revenues decreasing 21.6 percent and international base revenues declining 13.8 percent. Acquisitions added 3.6 percent to revenues while translation negatively impacted revenues 5.6 percent in the third quarter. By comparison, total company base revenues decreased 22.2 percent in the 2009 second quarter versus the year-ago period. While third quarter operating margins of 13.5 percent were 150 basis points lower than the year-ago quarter, base margins actually improved 20 basis points in the 2009 third quarter. Diluted income per share from continuing operations of 60 cents was 33 percent lower than the year-ago period.

Diluted income per share from continuing operations of 60 cents in the 2009 third quarter were reported as ongoing restructuring activities and modest revenue improvement in discrete end markets helped drive income and operating margins to significantly higher levels compared to the 2009 second quarter. In the 2009 third quarter, operating income of $483.6 million equated to operating margins of 13.5 percent versus operating margins of 9.9 percent in the 2009 second quarter.

Starting with this quarter, the company has moved its annual goodwill impairment testing from the first quarter to the third quarter of each year. As part of the third quarter impairment review, the company recorded $12 million of impairment, or a reduction of 2.5 cents of earnings. This impairment was related to a 2008 acquisition of a truck remanufacturing and parts/service business. In addition, the company’s effective tax rate of 32.5 percent in the third quarter was higher than the previously forecasted third quarter tax rate of 28 percent, resulting in 3.5 cents of reduced earnings. The higher tax rate in the third quarter was due to the non-deductibility of the goodwill associated with impairment and several discrete tax adjustments.

The company’s strong third quarter free operating cash flow of $516 million was largely driven by the strong improvement in margins and further reductions in working capital. In the quarter, the free operating cash flow to net income conversion rate was 171 percent. Year-to-date free operating cash flow totaled $1.5 billion, representing a conversion rate of 333 percent.

"We continue to be very pleased with the company’s overall operating performance amid an environment of generally weak end markets," said David Speer, ITW’s chairman and chief executive officer. "Our strong operating margins of 13.5 percent in the third quarter were largely achieved thanks to the focused response by our operating managers and right-sizing of our decentralized business units around the world. We incurred $31 million of restructuring expense in the quarter, bringing our year-to-date restructuring total to $128 million. Additionally, we expect to incur between $25 million and $40 million of restructuring in the 2009 fourth quarter. The cumulative benefits of these restructuring programs will continue to help us in the 2009 fourth quarter and in 2010."

Looking ahead, the company is forecasting fourth quarter 2009 diluted income per share from continuing operations to be in a range of 54 cents to 66 cents. The 2009 fourth quarter forecast assumes a total revenue range of -1 percent to +5 percent versus the 2009 third quarter.