Christopher J. Nelson
Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President and President, Tools & Outdoor at Stanley Black & Decker
Thank you, Don, and good morning, everyone. Beginning with tools and outdoor, second quarter revenue was approximately $3.5 billion with 1% organic growth versus prior year. DEWALT delivered another strong quarter, generating its fifth consecutive quarter of organic growth. DEWALT's performance, combined with a stronger outdoor season drove 2% volume growth. We are particularly encouraged by this result, given the soft consumer backdrop. Total revenue was flat as volume benefits were offset by 1% of currency in addition to 1% of price, which was consistent with our plan to support DEWALT cordless promotions. We are now back in line with historical levels of seasonal promotions.
Second quarter adjusted segment margin was 10.4%, a 590 basis point improvement compared to last year. We delivered year-over-year margin expansion through lower inventory destocking costs, supply chain transformation savings and shipping cost reductions, which were partially offset by targeted investments designed to accelerate share gain and organic growth.
Turning to product lines for the second quarter. Power tools declined 2% organically, driven by the consumer DIY category. Hand tools organic revenue was flat with new DEWALT product introductions driving increased product listings with our customers. Outdoor organic revenue grew 6% with strong retail volume growth, driven by handheld cordless outdoor power equipment and incremental retail product listings. Turning to Tools & Outdoor performance by region. North America generated 1% organic growth, driven by the same factors as the overall segment. Second quarter U.S. retail point-of-sale demand was up modestly versus the prior year, led by outdoor and regain DEWALT cordless promotions.
In Europe, organic revenue was down 3% as declines in France and Italy were partially offset by growth in the UK, the Nordics and Iberia. We are prioritizing investments and new product listings to grow market share and overcome the macro softness that is affecting this region's economy. To round out geographic performance for the quarter all other regions in aggregate grew 5% organically. This was driven by double-digit growth in Latin America, led by Brazil, along with high single-digit growth in India. In summary, for Tools & Outdoor the quarter was highlighted by a return to organic growth with a meaningful step up to segment margin.
Now moving to Industrial. Second quarter Industrial revenue declined 20% versus last year, which was nearly all due to the infrastructure divestiture. Price contributed positive 2% to growth, offset by a 2% currency headwind. The Engineered Fastening business grew 2% organically, driven by aerospace growth, which more than offset the market softness in automotive and customer destocking in general industrial. The aerospace business grew 24% organically, supported by new business wins and a strong booking rate.
The Industrial adjusted segment margin was 13.5%, an improvement of 50 basis points versus prior year, driven by price realization and cost control. I'd like to thank our teams around the world for their dedication to delivering another solid performance in the second quarter. Their focused efforts delivered organic growth and margin expansion across both business segments.
Moving to the next slide. As I reflect on my first year here at Stanley Black & Decker, much of my time and energy has been directed towards learning about our end users' and channel partners' priorities and how to both efficiently and effectively accelerate the next phase of Tools & Outdoor organic growth and market share gains. It's clear to me that we have four essential attributes for success.
One, an industry with long-term growth characteristics. Two, iconic brands. Three, a differentiated innovation engine. And four, deep customer relationships and loyal end users. I have strong conviction that we can create long-term value by capturing the commercial opportunities ahead of us, both now and into the future. To capture these opportunities, we are funding investments both by redirecting existing resources towards the most promising opportunities as well as investing incremental dollars consistent with the $300 million to $500 million range that Don and Pat have referenced on previous occasions.
Along with market-facing priorities, I've also been focused on our team putting in place the right capabilities and skills to execute our strategy. I am pleased to have my new organization established with a leadership team consisting of seasoned Stanley Black & Decker veterans complemented by external talent who bring fresh perspectives. They are all in place in driving forward momentum. The valuable breadth and depth of knowledge across the leadership team and organization is allowing us to activate our strategy with urgency. We are prioritizing our resources on the highest impact opportunities which we believe are serving the professional end user within our most attractive market.
Over the past 12 months, as we continue to streamline and focus our business, we've doubled down on being brand-led and are prioritizing DEWALT, CRAFTSMAN and STANLEY. These powerful brands have significant scale in the marketplace and strong brand equity with end users. By continuing to strengthen these brands and maximizing brand health, we can capitalize on their potential for long-term growth, share gain and margin improvement.
Turning to innovation. We view our long-standing ability to listen to end users and to deliver purpose-built innovation as a core differentiating capability. We are laser-focused on driving innovation to help solve the most pressing challenges our professional end users face, namely finding ways to improve their safety and productivity on the job site while ensuring they have robust tools to help deliver the high-quality craftmanship their customers expect.
Our core brands have been synonymous with delivering this type of value to job sites for many years, and we will continue to push the boundaries of these solutions as enhancing safety and productivity on the job site has never been more relevant to the professional end user. For example, we announced the next evolution in battery technology this quarter, the DEWALT XR Powerpack 8 amp hour battery with tabless cell technology. This joins the reinvigorated XR line, which houses the best-performing 20-volt MAX batteries and power tools from DEWALT. This battery technology conducts more energy, delivers more power output and has a longer lifespan, which enhances end-user productivity.
We also introduced the DEWALT ToughSeries Construction Jack, a tool designed to increase productivity by giving one person, the confidence and security to lift, level and hold material without assistance. With up to 340 pounds of lift capacity and fine-tuning adjustment features, this tool is a must-have for any end user.
Market activation is another investment priority and growth opportunity. We are more aggressively activating our core brands amplified digital product marketing and additional field resources, both with the goal of extending the reach and impact of our brands and innovation. We expect our elevated marketing efforts behind DEWALT, coupled with support to grow the trades through grants, scholarships and tool donations will broaden user engagement and brand ambassadorship. These sales and marketing initiatives are funded with new investment dollars and reallocation of resources, which illustrates our prioritization efforts towards our best prospects for growth.
In addition to delivering cost savings and driving margin improvement, which you have heard from Don, our supply chain transformation is also an enabler of growth, enhancing operational efficiency and achieving 35% plus adjusted gross margin unlocks incremental optionality to invest even more behind our brands and to accelerate the virtuous cycle of organic growth.
We believe that our emphasis on operational excellence in combination with the structural changes we are making to our production and distribution network which are the crux of our supply chain transformation can become a sustainable growth enabler for the company as we serve our customers and end users with excellence and speed. In addition, the continuous improvement capabilities we are strengthening as a part of this transformation will serve as a sustainable engine to help generate recurring productivity to self-fund the business and our brands.
In summary, while the near-term market demand environment remains mixed, we are optimistic about the long-term growth opportunities in our industry. We are aggressively moving forward to accelerate the growth of our powerful brands with our end users and customers around the globe. We have a talented team deployed that is moving with speed and a clear mandate, executing our transformation plan and accelerating share gain. This simple but powerful mandate energizes our team as we work to position ourselves to win in the marketplace.
Thank you, and I'll now pass the call over to Pat Hallinan.
