Caterpillar: Global Sales Fall 48% On Year In 3 Months To July
21 August 2009 - 12:44AM
Dow Jones News
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the world's largest manufacturer of
construction machinery by sales, said worldwide retail sales fell
sharply in July.
World machinery sales declined 48% in the three-month period
ended in July, compared with the same period a year earlier. World
sales were down 47% for the three months ended in June and down 43%
in May.
The company reported lower machinery sales across all its
geographic markets. Three-month retail sales in North America were
down 59% in July from a year ago. North American sales fell by the
same rate for the June period and dropped by 57% in May.
In the rest of the world, excluding North America, three-month
machinery sales were down 40% for the July period, compared with a
decline of 38% in June and a 35% reduction in May.
The sales decline worsened in July from June in the Asia Pacific
and Latin America markets, while improving slightly in the Europe,
Africa and the Middle East market.
Total sales of engines were down 33% in the July period from a
year ago. Falling sales were reported in all of the company's
engine categories, except marine engines where sales rose 1% in the
July period. Marine sales were up 15% in the June period.
Caterpillar's stock was recently trading up 0.53% at $45.41 a
share
-By Bob Tita, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4129;
robert.tita@dowjones.com