Caterpillar Inc. today announced profit per share of $1.16 for the second quarter of 2015, a decrease from $1.57 per share in the second quarter of 2014.
Excluding restructuring costs, profit per share was $1.27, down from $1.69 per share in the second quarter of 2014. Second-quarter 2015 sales and revenues were $12.3 billion, down from $14.2 billion, or 13 percent, in the second quarter of 2014.
“ Our Caterpillar team continues its track record of solid operational performance in the face of difficult conditions in several of the key industries we serve. Because we serve cyclical industries, we focus intently on operational execution and cost control. This is particularly important when sales decline; our goal when sales decline is to manage costs so the decline in operating profit is less than 30 percent of the decline in sales and revenues. We did much better than that in the second quarter, ” said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Oberhelman.
“ Our focus during these challenging times is on operational execution and customer success through efforts like Lean Management and our Across the Table initiative with dealers, while also investing in tomorrow through new technologies, innovation and data analytics – both within Caterpillar, and by partnering with and investing in other companies ,” continued Oberhelman.
The economic and industry conditions that were expected at the beginning of the year are occurring. World economic growth is about as the company expected: severe weakness in mining continues, construction-related sales in China and Brazil are lower and new orders for oil-related applications declined.