Caterpillar Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2019 Results; Provides Outlook for 2020

DEERFIELD, Ill., Jan. 31, 2020  /PRNewswire/ --

• Fourth-quarter sales and revenues down 8%; full-year sales and revenues decreased 2%
• Strong operating cash flow; ended the year with $8.3 billion of enterprise cash
• Returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in the fourth quarter through dividends and share repurchases; returned about $6.2 billion in 2019
• 2020 profit per share outlook range of $8.50 to $10.00

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Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2019.

Sales and revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $13.1 billion, an 8% decrease compared with $14.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. Fourth-quarter 2019 profit per share was $1.97, compared with $1.78 profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2018. Adjusted profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2019 was $2.63, compared with fourth-quarter 2018 adjusted profit per share of $2.55.

"In the fourth quarter, strong cost control more than offset lower-than-expected end-user demand," said Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO. "Our margin performance reflected our diligent focus on maintaining a flexible and competitive cost structure."

Full-year sales and revenues in 2019 were $53.8 billion, down 2% compared with $54.7 billion in 2018. Full-year profit was $10.74 per share in 2019, compared with profit of $10.26 per share in 2018. Adjusted profit per share in 2019 was $11.06, compared with adjusted profit per share of $11.22 in 2018.

"While sales declined modestly in 2019, we delivered an operating margin and free cash flow consistent with our long-term targets and continued to invest in services and expanded offerings," said Umpleby. "The team's focus on executing our strategy for profitable growth also allowed us to increase our dividend by 20% and return more than $6 billion in capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases."

Operating profit margin was 14.1% for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with 13.1% for the fourth quarter of 2018. Operating profit margin was 15.4% for 2019, compared with 15.2% for 2018.

In 2019, adjusted profit per share excluded mark-to-market losses for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plans and a discrete tax benefit related to U.S. tax reform. In 2018, adjusted profit per share excluded mark-to-market losses for remeasurement of pension and OPEB plans, restructuring costs, the impact of U.S. tax reform and certain deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments.

For the full year of 2019, enterprise operating cash flow was $6.9 billion. Full-year 2019 ME&T operating cash flow was $4.9 billion after a discretionary pension contribution of $1.5 billion financed from proceeds of a debt issuance. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company repurchased about $760 million of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of $568 million. During the year, the company repurchased $4.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of $2.1 billion. After returning about $6.2 billion of capital to shareholders, the enterprise cash balance was $8.3 billion at the end of 2019, compared with $7.9 billion at the end of 2018.

2020 Outlook

The company expects 2020 profit to be in a range of $8.50 to $10.00 per share.

"We expect continued global economic uncertainty to pressure sales to users in 2020 and cause dealers to further reduce inventories," said Umpleby. "We have improved our lead times and remain prepared to respond quickly to any positive or negative changes in customer demand. We will continue to invest in services and expanded offerings to advance our strategy for long term profitable growth, while achieving our Investor Day targets."

The outlook does not include a mark-to-market gain or loss for remeasurement of pension and OPEB plans.

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

Consolidated Sales and Revenues

Consolidated Sales and Revenues Comparison
Fourth Quarter 2019 vs. Fourth Quarter 2018 

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated sales and revenues between the fourth quarter of 2018 (at left) and the fourth quarter of 2019 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company's Board of Directors and employees.

Total sales and revenues of $13.144 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased $1.198 billion, or 8%, compared with $14.342 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decline was due to lower sales volume driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower end-user demand, primarily in Construction Industries and Resource Industries. Dealers decreased machine and engine inventories about $700 million during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with an increase of about $200 million during the fourth quarter of 2018. Sales declined mainly in North America, along with decreases in Latin America and EAME.

Consolidated Operating Profit

Consolidated Operating Profit Comparison 
Fourth Quarter 2019 vs. Fourth Quarter 2018 

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated operating profit between the fourth quarter of 2018 (at left) and the fourth quarter of 2019 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company's Board of Directors and employees. The bar titled Other includes consolidating adjustments and Machinery, Energy & Transportation's other operating (income) expenses.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $1.850 billion, a decrease of $33 million, or 2%, compared with $1.883 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume, mostly offset by lower selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and research and development (R&D) expenses and higher profit from Financial Products.

Lower SG&A/R&D expenses were mostly due to a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and timing of R&D expenses.

Financial Products' operating profit was higher, primarily due to lower provisions for credit losses related to the Cat Power Finance portfolio compared with the fourth quarter of 2018.

In addition, favorable manufacturing costs were mostly offset by unfavorable price realization. Manufacturing costs decreased primarily due to lower period manufacturing and material costs, partially offset by higher warranty expense. Period manufacturing costs declined mainly due to lower short-term incentive compensation and the favorable impact of restructuring and cost-reduction actions.

Other Profit/Loss and Tax Items

• Other income (expense) in the fourth quarter of 2019 was expense of $373 million, compared with expense of $417 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease in expense was due to the favorable impact of commodity hedges, higher realized gains and lower unrealized losses on marketable securities at Insurance Services, which were partially offset by unfavorable pension and OPEB costs.
• The provision for income taxes for the fourth quarter of 2019 reflected an annual effective tax rate of approximately 25% and a discrete tax benefit of $13 million, compared with approximately 24% and a net discrete tax benefit of $17 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase from 2018 was largely driven by the application of U.S. tax reform provisions to the earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries, which do not have a calendar fiscal year-end. These provisions did not apply to these subsidiaries in 2018. The change from the third-quarter 2019 estimated annual tax rate of 26% to the annual effective tax rate of approximately 25% resulted in a $54 million tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Construction Industries' total sales were $5.020 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $685 million, or 12%, compared with $5.705 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, driven mostly by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealers decreased inventories during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with dealer inventories that were about flat during the fourth quarter of 2018. Unfavorable price realization also contributed to the decline in sales.

• In North America, sales decreased due to lower demand driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories, while end-user demand was about flat. Dealers decreased inventories during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with an increase during the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Sales were higher in Latin America. While construction activities remained at low levels, the increase was driven by road and residential construction activities.
• In EAME, the sales decrease was primarily due to the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower end-user demand across most of the region. Dealers decreased inventories more during the fourth quarter of 2019 than during the fourth quarter of 2018.
• Sales in Asia/Pacific were about flat as unfavorable price realization was mostly offset by a few countries' higher sales volume.

Construction Industries' profit was $659 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $186 million, or 22%, compared with $845 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volume. In addition, favorable manufacturing costs were mostly offset by unfavorable price realization. Manufacturing costs decreased due to lower period manufacturing and material costs. Period manufacturing costs declined mainly due to the favorable impact of restructuring and cost-reduction actions as well as lower short-term incentive compensation.

Resource Industries' total sales were $2.395 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $402 million, or 14%, compared with $2.797 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, driven by changes in dealer inventories and lower end-user demand. Dealers increased inventories during the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with a decrease during the fourth quarter of 2019. While commodity prices are generally supportive of reinvestment, the company continues to believe mining customers remained disciplined in their capital expenditures due to economic uncertainty, resulting in lower sales in the quarter. In addition, end-user demand decreased for equipment supporting non-residential construction.

Resource Industries' profit was $261 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $139 million, or 35%, compared with $400 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The decrease was mainly due to lower sales volume, partially offset by lower SG&A/R&D expenses and favorable price realization. The decrease in SG&A/R&D expenses reflected a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and timing of R&D expenses.

Energy & Transportation's total sales were $5.949 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, a decrease of $338 million, or 5%, compared with $6.287 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. Sales declined primarily due to lower inter-segment engine sales and unfavorable currency impacts.

• Oil and Gas – Sales were lower mainly in North America. The sales decline was largely due to lower demand for reciprocating engines used in gas compression and lower turbine project deliveries.
• Power Generation – Sales increased slightly primarily due to higher deliveries for turbines in EAME.
• Industrial – Sales were about flat as slightly higher sales in North America were partially offset by lower sales in Latin America and EAME.
• Transportation – Sales were higher mainly due to stronger marine demand in EAME.

Energy & Transportation's profit was $1.165 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of $86 million, or 8%, compared with $1.079 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was mostly due to lower SG&A/R&D expenses, primarily due to a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and lower R&D project expenses. Lower manufacturing costs were mostly offset by lower sales volume.

Financial Products' segment revenues were $846 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of $34 million, or 4%, from the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to a favorable impact from returned or repossessed equipment in Europe and higher average financing rates in North America.

Financial Products' segment profit was $210 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with $29 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Most of the increase was due to lower provision for credit losses at Cat Financial, driven by a lower allowance rate compared with 2018. The lower allowance rate was due to write-offs of accounts in 2019 that were reserved for in 2018, primarily in the Cat Power Finance portfolio. In addition, there was a favorable impact from equity securities in Insurance Services, as well as favorable impacts from an increase in net yield on average earning assets and returned or repossessed equipment. These favorable impacts were partially offset by higher SG&A expenses.

At the end of 2019, past dues at Cat Financial were 3.14%, compared with 3.55% at the end of 2018. Write-offs, net of recoveries, were $237 million for 2019, an increase from $189 million for 2018, primarily due to Mining, Caterpillar Power Finance and EAME, partially offset by a decrease in Latin America.  The increase in Mining was due to a small number of customer balances written off in 2019, while the increases in Caterpillar Power Finance and EAME were concentrated in the marine portfolio and the Middle East, respectively.  As of December 31, 2019, Cat Financial's allowance for credit losses totaled $424 million, or 1.50% of finance receivables, compared with $511 million, or 1.80% of finance receivables, at December 31, 2018.

Dealer Inventories and Order Backlog

Dealers decreased machine and engine inventories about $700 million during the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with an increase of about $200 million during the fourth quarter of 2018. The changes in dealer inventories mostly impacted sales in Construction Industries and Resource Industries. For the full year of 2019, dealer inventories increased about $800 million, compared with an increase of about $2.3 billion during 2018.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, the order backlog was $13.7 billion, about $900 million lower than the third quarter of 2019, primarily in Energy & Transportation. The order backlog decreased across the three primary segments by about $2.9 billion since the end of 2018.

Notes

1. Glossary of terms is included on the Caterpillar website at http://www.caterpillar.com/investors/.
2. Information on non-GAAP financial measures is included in the appendix on page 12.
3. Some amounts within this report are rounded to the millions or billions and may not add. In addition, the sum of the components reported across periods may not equal the total amount reported year-to-date due to rounding.
4. Caterpillar will conduct a teleconference and live webcast, with a slide presentation, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Central Time on Friday, January 31, 2020, to discuss its 2019 fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. The accompanying slides will be available before the webcast on the Caterpillar website at
   http://www.caterpillar.com/investors/events-and-presentations.

About Caterpillar

Since 1925, Caterpillar Inc. has been helping our customers build a better world – making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. With 2019 sales and revenues of $53.8 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. Services offered throughout the product life cycle, cutting-edge technology and decades of product expertise set Caterpillar apart, providing exceptional value to help our customers succeed. The company principally operates through three primary segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.

Caterpillar's latest financial results and outlook are also available online:

http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors.html
http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html (live broadcast/replays of quarterly conference call)

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," "forecast," "target," "guide," "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) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position, including the imposition of new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates; (vi) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (vii) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (viii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (ix) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (x) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xi) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; (xiii) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xiv) 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; (xv) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvi) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xvii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xviii) currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xx) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxii) additional tax expense or exposure, including the impact of U.S. tax reform; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxiv) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxv) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and (xxvi) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

APPENDIX

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The following definitions are provided for the non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures for other companies. Management does not intend these items to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures.

Adjusted Profit

The company believes it is important to separately quantify the profit impact of four significant items in order for the company's results to be meaningful to readers. These items consist of (i) pension and OPEB mark-to-market losses resulting from plan remeasurements, (ii) U.S. tax reform impact, (iii) restructuring costs in 2018, which were incurred to generate longer-term benefits and (iv) certain deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments. The company does not consider these items indicative of earnings from ongoing business activities and believes the non-GAAP measure provides investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aids with assessing the company's period-over-period results.

Reconciliations of adjusted profit before taxes to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, consolidated profit before taxes, are as follows:

Reconciliations of adjusted profit per share to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, diluted profit per share, are as follows: