MINNEAPOLIS -- Caterpillar cut its profit and revenue guidance
Monday, saying the world's economic conditions "are weaker than we had
previously expected."
The Peoria, Ill., company is the world's
largest construction and mining equipment maker, so its results are
watched closely as a sign of where the broader economy is headed.
Caterpillar (CAT) said dealers want to reduce inventory, so they're ordering fewer products than end users want.
Caterpillar
said it has reduced production, resulting in temporary shutdowns and
layoffs. The lower production levels will continue until orders from
dealers and inventories line up with deliveries to end customers,
Caterpillar said.
The company now expects 2012 revenue of $66
billion, with profit of $9 to $9.25 per share. Analysts surveyed by
FactSet had expected revenue of $67.2 billion, with profit of $9.41 per
share.
It expects 2013 revenue to be about the same as this year, in a range of up 5% to down 5%.
"We're not expecting rapid growth, and we're not predicting a global recession," Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said.
Profit
in the third quarter rose 49% to almost $1.7 billion, or $2.54 per
share. That compares with profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.71 per share, a
year earlier. Revenue rose 4.6% to $16.45 billion.
The results
included a gain of $273 million, or 27 cents per share, from selling a
majority interest in a logistics business. Analysts surveyed by FactSet
had been expecting a profit of $2.21 per share, on revenue of $16.64
billion.
The economy this year "has been a disappointment,"
Caterpillar said, with growth lower than expected in the U.S. and China,
and with much of Europe in recession.
Caterpillar shares fell $1, or 1.2%, to $82.86 in premarket trading.
Associated Press