Achieved Record First-Quarter Profit Per Share on Higher Sales and Revenues
Caterpillar Inc. has announced first-quarter 2019 sales and revenues of $13.5 billion, compared with $12.9 billion in the first quarter of 2018, a 5% increase. First-quarter 2019 profit of $3.25 per share was a first-quarter record. This was a 19% increase compared with the previous record first-quarter profit per share of $2.74 in 2018.
Profit per share in the first quarter of 2019 included a discrete tax benefit related to U.S. tax reform of $178 million, or $0.31 per share. Profit per share in the first quarter of 2018 included restructuring costs of $0.08 per share.
During the first quarter of 2019, Machinery, Energy & Transportation (ME&T) operating cash flow was $860 million. In the first quarter of 2019, the company repurchased $751 million of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of $494 million. The enterprise cash balance at the end of the first quarter of 2019 was $7.1 billion.
“The global Caterpillar team delivered record first-quarter profit per share,” said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. “We are executing our strategy for profitable growth by investing in services, expanding our offerings and improving operational excellence.”
2019 Outlook
The company continues to have confidence in the fundamentals of its diverse end markets, and expectations for 2019 performance are unchanged. However, due to a $0.31 per share discrete tax benefit, Caterpillar is revising its profit per share outlook to a range of $12.06 to $13.06, compared with the previous outlook range of $11.75 to $12.75. The first-quarter discrete tax benefit of $178 million, or $0.31 per share, is related to U.S. tax reform as a result of final regulations recently issued by the U.S. Treasury. The outlook does not include a mark-to-market gain or loss for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit plans, which will be excluded from adjusted profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2019 along with any other discrete items.
