Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) on Thursday reported a 60 percent surge in profit for the fourth quarter, reflecting strong demand for its mining equipment. Both earnings per share and revenue topped analysts' expectations. Looking ahead to fiscal year 2012, the company forecast earnings and revenue above analysts' estimates.
The company's fourth-quarter net income was $1.55 billion or $2.32 per share, up from $968 million or $1.47 per share in the year-ago period.
Excluding the impact of the acquisition of Bucyrus International Inc., earnings per share for the latest quarter was $2.25. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.73 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total sales and revenues for the quarter increased 35 percent to $17.24 billion from $12.81 billion in the year-ago period, and topped analysts' consensus estimate of $16.05 billion.
The increase in sales and revenues were largely as a result of $2.65 billion higher sales volume that reflected higher end-user demand.
Machinery and power systems sales grew 36 percent in the quarter to $16.56 billion, while financial products revenue rose 3 percent to $686 million.
For fiscal year 2011, Caterpillar's net income surged to $4.93 billion or $7.40 per share from $2.70 billion or $4.15 per share last year.
Excluding the impact of the acquisition of Bucyrus, earnings per share rose to $7.79, up 88 percent from a year ago.
Analysts expected earnings of $6.81 per share for the year.
Sales and revenues for the year jumped 41 percent to $60.14 billion from $42.59 billion in the prior year and topped analysts consensus estimate of $58.56 billion.
At the end of 2011, Caterpillar's order backlog was $29.8 billion, an all-time record. The company said it expects sales to be constrained by capacity throughout 2012.
Caterpillar's worldwide full-time employment was 125,099 at the end of 2011, representing an increase of 20,609 employees from 104,490 at the end of 2010.
For fiscal year 2012, Caterpillar forecasts sales and revenues for the year in a range of $68 billion to $72 billion, representing an increase of 13 to 20 percent from $60.14 billion in 2011.
The outlook includes a full year of results for the two large acquisitions that were completed in 2011- Bucyrus and MWM.
Caterpillar forecasts earnings per share for the year to be about $9.25 at the middle of the sales and revenues range, up 25 percent from $7.40 per share in 2011.
Analysts expect the company to earn $9.06 per share for the year on revenues of $67.33 billion.
Separately, Cat Financial reported fourth-quarter profit after tax of $95 million, up 36 percent from $70 million in the same period last year. Revenues for the quarter rose 5 percent to $662 million from $633 million in the year-ago period.
New retail financing in quarter rose 11 percent from last year to $3 billion, primarily a result of improvements in the company's Asia/Pacific and Mining operating segment.
In Thursday's regular session, CAT is trading at $112.41, up $3.36 or 3.08 on a volume of 6 million shares.
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