Tool maker Black & Decker Corp raised its profit outlook for the third-quarter, citing better-than-expected sales, operating margin and tax rate, suggesting an improvement in the company's end markets.

For the quarter ending Sept 30, the company, which also makes home improvement products, now expects earnings of 91 cents a share, up from its prior forecast of 35 cents to 45 cents a share.

A lower tax rate, due to favorable adjustments, is expected to add 14 cents a share to quarterly profit, the company said in a statement.

The company expects sales to decline 23 percent, better than a 24 percent drop it forecast in July.

Sales were modestly better than we had anticipated, due largely to earlier-than-expected shipments during the quarter of promotional items in the U.S. industrial power tools and accessories business, which were previously anticipated to occur in the fourth quarter, Chief Executive Nolan Archibald said.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 45 cents a share, on revenue view of $1.17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the company were up almost 8 percent at $51 in pre-market trade Monday. They closed at $47.24 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Biswarup Gooptu in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)