graphic
News > Companies
Caterpillar warns on 3Q
September 29, 2000: 7:34 p.m. ET

Heavy-equipment maker blames currency, slowing construction business
graphic
graphic graphic
graphic
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Shares of Caterpillar Inc. got plowed under in after-hours trade Friday after the heavy-equipment maker said it will fall well short of Wall Street's third-quarter profit expectations.

The Peoria, Ill.-based company said it expects to report earnings that will be about 15 percent below analysts' consensus of 68 cents per share when it reports its third-quarter results on October 17.

After closing at $33.75 on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Caterpillar (CAT: Research, Estimates) shares were trading at $31 on the Instinet electronic brokerage system late Friday evening.

Caterpillar listed weak foreign currencies, a soft domestic construction market and higher energy costs among the reasons for the shortfall.

graphicEven so, Caterpillar said it will make up for the third-quarter miss later in the year by cutting costs. In addition, the company said continued strength in the demand for large engines for electric power and energy development applications and a favorable tax adjustment will positively affect its fourth-quarter results.

Therefore, Caterpillar reiterated its guidance for all of 2000. The company said it expects its revenue to "improve slightly" over the $19.7 billion it reported in 1999. It also said it expects its profit for the year to "increase moderately" from the $946 million, or $2.63 per share, reported last year.

Caterpillar designs and makes mining, construction and agricultural machinery as well as engines for earth-moving and construction machines. It is the world's leading supplier of earth-moving machinery.

The company operates manufacturing plants in 22 countries. Back to top





graphic


© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.
Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.