Caterpillar's first quarter adjusted profit met Wall Street's expectations, even as sales declined and the company continues to deal with soft product demand.
Caterpillar earned $271 million, or .46 cents per share in the first quarter of the year. That‘s down 77-percent compared to earnings of $1.25 billion, or $2.03 per share a year earlier.
Caterpillar's first quarter results include sales and revenue of $9.46-billion, also a 25.5-percent decrease from a year ago.
Mike DeWalt is the Vice President of Caterpillar’s Financial Services Division. He says despite the numbers, there were no big surprises in the first quarter. "We’re either at to near the bottom of the cycle we think any way, and we’re still actually pretty reasonably profitable. If you look at the bottom of the cycle in prior recessions or whatever, we were far less profitable.”
DeWalt says continued tough market conditions in key developing countries persist in many of Caterpillar’s businesses, including mining, oil and gas, rail and construction.
The heavy equipment maker lowered its full-year profit forecast range to $41-billion plus or minus a billion.