Caterpillar’s Third-Quarter Profits Decline
Caterpillar Inc.’s third-quarter profit fell to $946 million, or $1.45 a share, from $1.7 billion, or $2.54, a year ago, on lower sales.
Sales fell 18% to $13.4 billion, the heavy-equipment maker said.
Caterpillar also revised its 2013 per-share outlook down to about $5.50 per share from $6.50 and reported sales will be $55 billion, down from a previous outlook of $57 billion to $61 billion.
“Unfortunately, order rates have not picked up much despite continuing strong commodity production. That has caused us to ratchet down our sales and revenues outlook as we have moved through 2013,” Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said in a statement.
Caterpillar said it fired 13,661 workers worldwide in the past year as a result of lower production volume.
“It has been a painful year and has required wide-ranging and substantial actions across the company,” Oberhelman said. “There are encouraging signs, but there is also a good deal of uncertainty worldwide as we look ahead to 2014.”
Caterpillar produces a line of severe-service trucks in partnership with Navistar International Corp.
