Summary
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) filed an 8-K on September 21, 2012, to provide supplemental information on retail sales of machines and power systems for the three-month rolling period ending August 2012, compared to the same period in the prior year. This disclosure aims to offer investors a clearer understanding of the company's business performance and the industries it serves, acknowledging the time lag between sales to dealers and deliveries to end-users. The data indicates a mixed performance across different segments and regions. While the overall "World" retail sales of machines showed a modest increase of 13% for the rolling three months ending August 2012, driven significantly by robust growth in Asia/Pacific (up 27%) and North America (up 24%), other regions presented challenges. The EAME region remained flat, and Latin America experienced a decline in machine sales. For Power Systems, the "Total" segment saw a slight increase of 3%, but this was a deceleration from prior months, with notable strength in Petroleum (up 14%) and Transportation (up 9%), while Electric Power and Industrial sectors continued to decline.
Key Highlights
- 1Caterpillar is providing supplemental, unaudited dealer statistics on retail sales for machines and power systems as of August 2012.
- 2The "World" retail sales of machines showed a 13% increase for the rolling 3-month period ending August 2012 compared to the prior year.
- 3Asia/Pacific and North America were strong performers for machine retail sales, with increases of 27% and 24% respectively over the rolling 3-month period.
- 4EAME (Europe, Africa, and Middle East) and Latin America experienced flat to declining retail sales for machines.
- 5The Power Systems segment overall saw a 3% increase in retail sales for the rolling 3-month period, a slowdown from previous months.
- 6Petroleum and Transportation sectors within Power Systems demonstrated positive retail sales growth, up 14% and 9% respectively.
- 7Electric Power and Industrial sectors within Power Systems continued to show negative retail sales trends.
- 8The company notes that sales data is based on unaudited reports from independent dealers and may not be subject to internal controls.