Caterpillar’s 4Q Income More Than Quadruples

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income more than quadrupled on higher sales.

Net income jumped to $968 million, or $1.47 per share, from $232 million, or 36 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 62% to $12.81 billion, Caterpillar said in a statement.

Its full-year profit jumped to $2.7 billion, or $4.15 per share, from $895 million, or $1.43 in 2009. Sales rose 31% to $42.6 billion.

Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said the company expects developing countries to keep growing faster than more developed nations this year, the Associated Press reported.

Caterpillar’s results are considered a strong indicator of global economic health because its machinery is used all over the world, and the company predicts the global economy will grow 3.5% this year, about the same overall rate as last year, AP said.

Caterpillar, which formerly made diesel truck engines, said in 2008 it was pulling out of the North American Class 8 truck engine market except for a truck and engine in partnership with Navistar International Corp.