Caterpillar expects higher revenues in 2010

Caterpillar Inc. announced sales and revenues of $32.396 billion for 2009, a decrease of 37 percent from $51.324 billion in 2008. Profit per share was $1.43, down 75 percent. Excluding redundancy costs of $0.75, 2009 profit was $2.18 per share.

Fourth-quarter sales and revenues were $7.898 billion, down 39 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008.

Profit per share for the quarter was $0.36, down 67 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008. Excluding redundancy costs, profit for the fourth quarter was $0.41 per share.

Sales and revenues for 2009 decreased $18.928 billion from 2008, and profit of $895 million was down 75 percent from $3.557 billion in 2008. The decline in profit was primarily due to significantly lower sales volume.

The impact of lower volume was partially offset by lower costs, favorable income taxes and improved price realization.

Caterpillar expects 2010 sales and revenues to be up 10 to 25 percent from 2009, and profit is expected to be approximately $2.50 per share at the midpoint of the sales and revenues range.

In addition to increased end-user demand, Caterpillar sales are expected to improve as a result of changes in dealer inventories. Dealers reduced new machine inventories by more than $3.3 billion and new engine inventories by more than $600 million during 2009. This means Caterpillar’s sales in 2009 were below end-user demand by nearly $4 billion.

The most significant positive factors driving the profit outlook are higher sales volume, lower material costs and improved factory efficiency.