8-KRegulation FD

CATERPILLAR INC 8-K Report, Regulation FD Disclosure (Sep 17, 2010)

Filed September 17, 2010For Securities:CAT

Summary

This Form 8-K filing by Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) on September 17, 2010, provides supplemental data on dealer deliveries for its Machinery and Engines segments for the three-month rolling period ending August 2010. This information, presented in constant dollars and based on unaudited dealer reports, aims to offer investors a clearer view of business trends, acknowledging the time lag between Caterpillar's sales to dealers and end-user deliveries. The data indicates a broadly positive trend in retail sales of machinery, with significant year-over-year growth reported across all major regions, including Asia/Pacific, EAME, Latin America, ROW, and North America. This suggests a strengthening demand environment for Caterpillar's core equipment business. For the Engines segment, while Electric Power and Industrial sectors showed robust growth, the Marine sector experienced a notable decline, and the Petroleum sector saw modest growth.

Key Highlights

  • 1Caterpillar is providing unaudited supplemental data on dealer deliveries for machinery and engines to offer a clearer picture of business trends.
  • 2Retail sales of Caterpillar machinery showed strong year-over-year growth across all major global regions for the three months ending August 2010.
  • 3The Asia/Pacific region led machinery sales growth with a 32% increase, followed by North America (40%) and Latin America (57%).
  • 4The Engines segment experienced mixed results, with significant growth in Industrial (43%) and Electric Power (10%) sectors.
  • 5The Marine Engines sector continued to see substantial year-over-year declines, down 40% for the period.
  • 6Petroleum Engines sector showed minimal growth of 5% for the period.
  • 7The data is presented in constant dollars and is based on dealer reports, not Caterpillar's internal financial controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

The primary purpose of this 8-K filing is to provide investors with supplemental, unaudited data on retail deliveries of Caterpillar's machinery and engines to end-users. This is done to offer a timelier insight into business performance, given the time lag between Caterpillar selling to dealers and dealers selling to end-users.

The machinery dealer statistics show a strong upward trend in retail sales across all major geographic regions for the three months ending August 2010, compared to the same period the prior year. This suggests a positive and strengthening demand environment for Caterpillar's construction and mining equipment globally.

The Engines business showed mixed performance. The Industrial and Electric Power sectors experienced robust year-over-year sales growth. However, the Marine sector continued to face significant declines, while the Petroleum sector saw only modest growth.

The data presented is based on unaudited reports from independent dealers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). It is not subject to Caterpillar's internal controls over financial reporting. Furthermore, Caterpillar states it does not undertake to update this information, meaning it is a snapshot in time.