DEERFIELD, Ill., April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

• First-quarter sales and revenues decreased 21%; profit per share declined 39%
• Company bolsters liquidity, improves strong financial position
• Returned about $1.6 billion to shareholders

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced first-quarter 2020 sales and revenues of $10.6 billion, a 21% decrease compared with $13.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decline was due to lower sales volume driven by lower end-user demand and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealers increased machine and engine inventories about $100 million during the first quarter of 2020, compared with about $1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2019.

First-quarter 2020 profit per share was $1.98, compared with $3.25 profit per share in the first quarter of 2019. Profit per share in the first quarter of 2020 included a pre-tax remeasurement gain of $254 million, or $0.38 per share, resulting from the settlement of a non-U.S. pension obligation. Profit per share in the first quarter of 2019 included a discrete tax benefit related to U.S. tax reform of $178 million, or $0.31 per share. The first quarter of 2020 also benefited from the lack of short-term incentive compensation expense partially offset by the higher estimated annual tax rate of 31% excluding discrete items.

Operating profit margin was 13.2% for the first quarter of 2020, compared with 16.4% for the first quarter of 2019.

During the first quarter of 2020, enterprise operating cash flow was $1.130 billion. Caterpillar has taken actions to improve its strong financial position by increasing sources of liquidity. On a consolidated basis, Caterpillar ended the first quarter with $7.1 billion of cash and available global credit facilities of $10.5 billion. In April, Caterpillar raised $2.0 billion of incremental cash by issuing new 10- and 30-year bonds and arranged $8.0 billion of additional back-up facilities to supplement the company's liquidity position.

Response to COVID-19 and Global Business Conditions

"We remain committed to the safety, health and well-being of our employees around the world, and I am proud of our employees and dealers for their dedication to our customers, their communities and each other," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. "Our employees deliver products and services that enable our customers to provide critical infrastructure essential to support society during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Operational Impacts

Caterpillar has implemented safeguards in its facilities to protect team members, including increased frequency of cleaning and disinfecting facilities, social distancing practices and other measures consistent with specific regulatory requirements and guidance from health authorities.

Many governments classified Caterpillar's operations as an essential activity for support of critical infrastructure. Caterpillar has suspended operations temporarily at certain facilities during the last several weeks due to supply chain issues, weak customer demand or government regulations. As of mid-April 2020, globally and across the three primary segments, approximately 75% of the company's primary production facilities continue to operate. Some facilities that were temporarily closed have reopened. The company will continue to monitor the situation and may suspend operations temporarily at additional facilities if warranted by business conditions.

The company has taken actions to reduce costs, including reducing discretionary expenses and suspending 2020 base salary increases and short-term incentive compensation plans for many employees and all senior executives. Caterpillar is prioritizing spending to allow continued investment in services and expanded offerings, key elements of its strategy for profitable growth introduced in 2017.

Outlook

Caterpillar's financial results for the remainder of 2020 will be impacted by continued global economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, Caterpillar withdrew its earnings guidance on March 26 and is not providing a financial outlook for 2020 at this time.

"We have taken decisive actions to enhance our strong financial position, while continuing to execute our strategy for profitable growth," said Umpleby. "Caterpillar has faced and overcome many challenges in our 95-year history. Our goal is to emerge from the pandemic an even stronger company."

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

Consolidated Sales and Revenues

Consolidated Sales and Revenues Comparison First Quarter 2020 vs. First Quarter 2019 

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar first-quarter 2020 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated sales and revenues between the first quarter of 2019 (at left) and the first quarter of 2020 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company's Board of Directors and employees.

Total sales and revenues for the first quarter of 2020 were $10.635 billion, a decrease of $2.831 billion, or 21%, compared with $13.466 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decline was due to lower sales volume driven by lower end-user demand and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealers increased machine and engine inventories about $100 million during the first quarter of 2020, compared with about $1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2019. The changes in dealer inventories came primarily in Construction Industries, driven by North America, and in Resource Industries.

Sales were lower across all regions and in the three primary segments.

Consolidated Operating Profit

Consolidated Operating Profit Comparison First Quarter 2020 vs. First Quarter 2019 

To access this chart, go to http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/quarterly-results.html for the downloadable version of Caterpillar first-quarter 2020 earnings. 

The chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated operating profit between the first quarter of 2019 (at left) and the first quarter of 2020 (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 first quarter of 2020 was $1.404 billion, a decrease of $803 million, or 36%, compared with $2.207 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was mostly due to lower sales volume and unfavorable currency impacts related to the Australian dollar, partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and research and development (R&D) expenses as well as favorable manufacturing costs.

Lower SG&A/R&D expenses reflected reduced short-term incentive compensation expense, a favorable change in fair value adjustments related to deferred compensation plans and other cost-reduction actions implemented in response to lower sales volumes.

Favorable manufacturing costs were primarily driven by lower period manufacturing and material costs, partially offset by higher warranty expense. Period manufacturing costs declined mostly due to a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and other cost-reduction actions implemented in response to lower sales volumes.

Other Profit/Loss and Tax Items

• Other income (expense) in the first quarter of 2020 was income of $222 million, compared with income of $160 million in the first quarter of 2019. The change was primarily due to a $254 million remeasurement gain resulting from the settlement of a non-U.S. pension obligation, partially offset by unfavorable impacts from equity securities at Insurance Services and foreign currency exchange gains (losses) primarily due to the Australian dollar and Brazilian real. The unfavorable impact of equity securities was due to unrealized losses in the first quarter of 2020, compared with unrealized gains in the first quarter of 2019. The company experienced foreign currency exchange net losses in the first quarter of 2020, compared with net gains in the first quarter of 2019.
• The provision for income taxes for the first quarter of 2020 reflected a higher estimated annual tax rate of 31% compared with 26% for the first quarter of 2019, excluding the discrete items discussed below. The increase in the estimated annual tax rate is primarily related to changes in the expected geographic mix of profits from a tax perspective for 2020, including the impact of U.S. tax on non-U.S. earnings as a result of U.S. tax reform. In the first quarter of 2020, a $43 million tax charge was recorded related to the $254 million remeasurement gain resulting from the settlement of a non-U.S. pension obligation. In the first quarter of 2019, a discrete tax benefit of $201 million was recorded.

Construction Industries' total sales were $4.306 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $1.567 billion, or 27%, compared with $5.873 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, driven by lower end-user demand and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealers increased inventories significantly more during the first quarter of 2019 than in the first quarter of 2020.

• In North America, sales decreased due to lower demand driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower end-user demand. Dealers increased inventories more during the first quarter of 2019 than in the first quarter of 2020. The lower end-user demand was driven primarily by non-residential and pipeline construction.
• Sales declined in Latin America primarily due to the impact from changes in dealer inventories and unfavorable currency impacts from a weaker Brazilian real. Dealers decreased inventories more during the first quarter of 2020 than in the first quarter of 2019.
• In EAME, the sales decrease was primarily due to lower end-user demand across most of the region and unfavorable currency impacts from a weaker euro.
• Sales declined in Asia/Pacific due to lower end-user demand across most of the region, primarily in China. Decreases in China reflected lower end-user demand mostly due to COVID-19 pandemic-related impacts.

Construction Industries' profit was $640 million in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $445 million, or 41%, compared with $1.085 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was mainly due to lower sales volume, partially offset by lower manufacturing costs. Favorable manufacturing costs were primarily due to lower period manufacturing and material costs, partially offset by higher warranty expense. Lower period manufacturing costs reflected a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and targeted cost-reduction actions implemented in response to lower sales volumes.

Resource Industries' total sales were $2.084 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $668 million, or 24%, compared with $2.752 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, driven by changes in dealer inventories and lower end-user demand. Dealers increased inventories during the first quarter of 2019, compared with a decrease during the first quarter of 2020. Mining equipment sales were lower due to weakness in certain commodities. In addition, demand decreased for equipment supporting non-residential construction and quarry and aggregates.

Resource Industries' profit was $304 million in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $272 million, or 47%, compared with $576 million in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was mainly due to lower sales volume. Manufacturing costs were about flat as the unfavorable impact of cost absorption and higher warranty expense were more than offset by lower period manufacturing costs, freight expense and material costs. Cost absorption was unfavorable as inventory increased more in the first quarter of 2019 than in the first quarter of 2020. Lower period manufacturing costs were primarily due to lower short-term incentive compensation expense and the favorable impact of restructuring and other cost-reduction actions.

Energy & Transportation's total sales were $4.349 billion in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $861 million, or 17%, compared with $5.210 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Sales declined across all applications and inter-segment engine sales.

• 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 well servicing.
• Power Generation – Sales decreased primarily due to lower sales in Asia/Pacific and North America for both reciprocating engines and turbine-related projects.
• Industrial – Sales decreased due to lower demand across all regions.
• Transportation – Sales declined in both rail and marine applications.

Energy & Transportation's profit was $602 million in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $236 million, or 28%, compared with $838 million in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was mostly due to lower sales volume. The decline was partially offset by lower SG&A/R&D expenses and manufacturing costs, both of which were mostly impacted by a reduction in short-term incentive compensation expense and other cost-reduction actions implemented in response to lower sales volumes.

Financial Products' segment revenues were $814 million in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $36 million, or 4%, from the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was primarily due to lower average earning assets in North America.

Financial Products' segment profit was $105 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared with $211 million in the first quarter of 2019. Most of the decrease was due to an unfavorable impact from equity securities in Insurance Services. Additionally, Cat Financial experienced lower average earning assets. These unfavorable impacts were partially offset by a reduction in SG&A expenses due to lower short-term incentive compensation expense.

At the end of the first quarter of 2020, past dues at Cat Financial were 4.13%, compared with 3.61% at the end of the first quarter of 2019. The increase was primarily due to North America, Asia/Pacific and Mining, partially offset by a decrease in Caterpillar Power Finance. Write-offs, net of recoveries, were $30 million for the first quarter of both 2020 and 2019. As of March 31, 2020, Cat Financial's allowance for credit losses totaled $457 million, or 1.69% of finance receivables, compared with $424 million, or 1.50% of finance receivables, at December 31, 2019. The increase in allowance for credit losses was driven by the forecast of deteriorating economic conditions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Corporate Items and Eliminations

Expense for corporate items and eliminations was $165 million in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of $256 million from the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to a favorable change in fair value adjustments related to deferred compensation plans and segment reporting methodology differences.

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.
4. Caterpillar will conduct a teleconference and live webcast, with a slide presentation, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Central Time on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, to discuss its 2020 first-quarter 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; (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; (xxvi) the duration and geographic spread of, business disruptions caused by, and the overall global economic impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic; and (xxvii) 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 two significant items in order for the company's results to be meaningful to readers. These items consist of (i) a remeasurement gain resulting from the settlement of a non-U.S. pension obligation in the first quarter of 2020 and (ii) a discrete tax benefit related to U.S. tax reform in the first quarter of 2019. 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. The company intends to discuss adjusted profit per share for the fourth quarter and full-year 2020, excluding mark-to-market gains or losses for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit plans along with any other discrete items.

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

Machinery, Energy & Transportation

Caterpillar defines Machinery, Energy & Transportation as it is presented in the supplemental data as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries with Financial Products accounted for on the equity basis. Machinery, Energy & Transportation information relates to the design, manufacture and marketing of Caterpillar products. Financial Products' information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment. The nature of these businesses is different, especially with regard to the financial position and cash flow items. Caterpillar management utilizes this presentation internally to highlight these differences. The company also believes this presentation will assist readers in understanding Caterpillar's business. Pages 13-21 reconcile Machinery, Energy & Transportation with Financial Products on the equity basis to Caterpillar Inc. consolidated financial information.