Summary
This Form 8-K filing by Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) on March 20, 2013, provides supplemental dealer statistics for the three-month rolling periods ending February 2013, January 2013, and December 2012. The report details retail sales of machines and power systems by geographic region and end-use sector, comparing current periods to the prior year. This information, based on unaudited dealer reports, is intended to offer investors a better understanding of Caterpillar's business and the industries it serves, acknowledging the time lag between Caterpillar's sales to dealers and end-user deliveries. Key insights indicate a challenging sales environment, with significant year-over-year declines in machine retail sales in Asia/Pacific and North America for the most recent three-month period. Power systems also showed weakness, particularly in the Industrial sector. However, some regions like Latin America showed modest growth, and the Transportation sector for power systems experienced a notable increase in February 2013. The filing also provides updated year-end distribution data for 2011 and 2012, highlighting Mining and Heavy Construction as the largest end-uses for machinery, and Petroleum and Electric Power for power systems.
Key Highlights
- 1Machine retail sales showed a significant year-over-year decrease of 13% globally for the 3-month period ending February 2013, compared to the prior year.
- 2Asia/Pacific and North America experienced substantial declines in machine retail sales, down 26% and 12% respectively for the 3-month period ending February 2013.
- 3Latin America was a bright spot, reporting increases in machine retail sales for all three disclosed 3-month rolling periods.
- 4Power systems retail sales globally decreased by 7% for the 3-month period ending February 2013, with the Industrial sector seeing a sharp decline of 25%.
- 5The Transportation sector for power systems demonstrated positive momentum, with a 15% increase in retail sales for the 3-month period ending February 2013.
- 6Mining and Heavy Construction remain the largest end-use segments for machinery distribution, representing 35% and 15% of sales in 2012, respectively.
- 7Acquisitions (Bucyrus and MWM) are being integrated into retail statistics, with their full impact on annual data expected in 2014, allowing for clearer year-over-year comparisons.