On January 27, US-based construction and mining equipment producing giant Caterpillar Inc. issued its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2010, stating that strong demand for its products led to huge jumps in profit and revenues.
According to the financial results, Caterpillar's profit was $968 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with a profit of $232 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, increasing 308 percent. Machinery and engine sales revenues in the last quarter of 2010 rose 69 percent from $7.19 billion in the same period of the previous year to $12.14 billion.
Caterpillar's profit was $2.7 billion compared with a profit of $895 million in 2009, rising 202 percent. Machinery and engine sales revenues rose 35 percent from $29.54 billion in 2009 to $39.87 billion in 2010.
$50 billion revenue target in 2010
Caterpillar expects revenues in 2011 to exceed $50 billion and profit to be near $6.00 per share compared with revenues of $42.588 billion and profit of $4.15 per share in 2010.
In its report, Caterpillar commented, "Continued growth in developing countries, improving economies in North America and Europe, strong demand for mining products and the need for our dealers to add to inventories and replenish rental fleets should all contribute to higher sales in 2011. The increases are likely to be mitigated somewhat by small declines in later cycle industries, such as turbines and marine engines."