Caterpillar posted strong second quarter 2011 profits and revenues on the back of continuing improvement in demand around the world.
In a company statement, Caterpillar announced that Q2 profit was US$1.015 billion in, an increase of 44 per cent from US$707mn in the second quarter of 2010. Sales and revenues jumped by 37 percent versus last year to hit US$14.230 billion
The improvement is a result of continued economic growth and improvement from the low levels of machine demand in the second quarter of 2010.
"Customer demand around the world continues to improve, and our sales and revenues reached an alltime record in the second quarter," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Oberhelman.
"We're increasing capacity and production levels to satisfy the demand we see today and what's down the road as the global economy continues to improve over the next few years. We've announced many significant investments in the United States and around the world over the past year and are expecting capital expenditures of about US$3 billion in 2011," Oberhelman said.
"Economic activity and our business in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, CIS and greater Asia are robust," Oberhelman added.
Caterpillar construction Industries' sales increased by 46 per cent in Q2 to hit US$4.941 billion, an increase of US$1.550 billion from the second quarter of 2010. The improvement in sales was a result of significantly higher sales volume in all geographic regions and across all major products.
Continuing economic growth in most developing countries resulted in higher sales overall, and new machine sales were above or near record levels across much of the developing world.
Construction Industries' profit was US$482mn in the second quarter of 2011 compared with US$218mn in the second quarter of 2010. The increase in profit was primarily due to higher sales volume, which included the impact of an unfavorable mix of products.
Caterpillar stated that their 2011 sales and revenues outlook is now expected to be in the range of US$54 to US$56 billion, an increase of US$2 billion on their estimate.
