Citing construction activity in China and gas compression in the US, Caterpillar Inc. sold $1bn more in equipment in the second quarter of this year than the same period last year.
The good news came after the US firm closed a factory in Gosselies, Belgium in March, leading to the loss of 2,000 jobs.
This week Caterpillar announced second-quarter 2017 sales and revenues of $11.3bn, compared with $10.3bn in the second quarter of 2016. Second-quarter 2017 profit per share was $1.35, compared with $0.93 per share in the second quarter of 2016.
Excluding restructuring costs and a gain on the sale of an equity investment in IronPlanet, second-quarter 2017 adjusted profit per share was $1.49, compared to second-quarter 2016 adjusted profit per share of $1.09.
"Our team delivered an impressive quarter. As demand increased, we continued to control costs and generated higher profit margins," said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby.
"While a number of our end markets remain challenged, construction in China and gas compression in North America were highlights in the quarter. Mining and oil-related activities have come off of recent lows, and we are seeing improving demand for construction in most regions."
As a result of increased demand across many end markets and disciplined cost control, Caterpillar is raising its 2017 outlook.Some risks remain in the outlook, including weakness in the Middle East and Latin America, as well as geopolitical and commodity risk.
The company is raising its full-year 2017 expectations for sales and revenues to a range of $42bn to $44bn.
Image courtesy of Caterpillar
