Caterpillar Helps Customers Build a Better World

2017 Annual Report and Sustainability Report available online

News provided by

May 02, 2018, 10:17 ET

DEERFIELD, Ill., May 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is illustrating how it's helping customers build a better world in the company's recently published 2017 Annual Report and Sustainability Report.

To read the reports, visit http://reports.caterpillar.com/.

"For more than 90 years, our customers have been using Caterpillar equipment to help improve living standards around the world," said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby. "The reports showcase our industry-leading products and services that support infrastructure and energy development, economic growth and communities, and protect the planet. We're delivering these solutions to our customers while also implementing our strategy to achieve long-term profitable growth."

The Annual Report showcases how the company is executing its strategy to create value for shareholders and customers. Highlights include:

Strong business performance, including profit improvement and prioritizing the dividend – more than doubling the cash dividend since 2007.
Strengthening of the company's balance sheet due in part to the decisive actions taken to reduce our cost structure and generate solid cash flow.
Implementation of a new enterprise strategy focused on delivering profitable growth using the Operating & Execution (O&E) Model as the guide and the company's values as the foundation.
Focus on operational excellence, expanded offerings and services with customers at the center of the company's purpose.

The Sustainability Report highlights how the company is providing value to customers by making sustainable progress possible through its operations, products, services and solutions that make safe, productive and efficient use of resources. Achievements featured include, among others:

Active participation in the circular economy through remanufacturing and rebuilding opportunities from components and engines to turbines and rail.
Providing innovative support to customers, including assistance from the Job Site Solutions team and Cat® dealers to improve their operations and competitiveness, while often delivering additional sustainability benefits.
Fostering a diverse, inclusive and safe environment where all employees can be successful and encouraged to share ideas, enabling them to achieve superior business and personal results.
Continued commitment to communities through the Caterpillar Foundation's support of its partners' work to alleviate poverty.

Click to Tweet: Caterpillar Helps Customers Build a Better World https://bit.ly/2uxrW6U

About Caterpillar

For more than 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2017 sales and revenues of $45.462 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three primary segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (v) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (vi) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (vii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (viii) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (ix) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (x) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xiii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; (xiv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xv) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (xvi) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xviii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xix) currency fluctuations; (xx) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xxi) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxii) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxiii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xxiv) additional tax expense or exposure including the impact of U.S. tax reform; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxvii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and (xxviii) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.