Deere Posts Net Income and Revenue Growth in Fiscal Third Quarter
Aug. 16, 2013
Deere & Co. posted net income of $996.5 million, or $2.56 per share, for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31, compared with $788 million, or $1.98 per share for the same period last year, a 26.5-percent increase. For the first nine months of the year, net income was $2.73 billion, compared to $2.38 billion a year ago, a 14.7-percent jump.Worldwide net revenues increased 4 percent for the third quarter to $10.01 billion, and 8 percent for the first nine months to $28.3 billion. Net sales of equipment operations were $9.3 billion for the quarter compared with $8.9 billion a year ago, a 4.3-percent increase.“John Deere is well on the road to another year of impressive performance after reporting record third-quarter results,” said Samuel Allen, chairman and CEO. “Deere’s success is a reflection of considerable strength in the farm sector, especially in North and South America. We also are making further progress executing our wide-ranging operating and marketing plans, which call for expanding our global market presence while keeping a close watch on costs and assets.”Equipment net sales in the United States and Canada increased 4 percent for the third quarter and 9 percent year to date.The company projects equipment sales to rise about 5 percent for fiscal 2013 and to decrease by about 5 percent for the fiscal fourth quarter compared with year-ago periods, including unfavorable currency translation impact of about 1 percent. For the full year, net income is anticipated at about $3.45 billion. Allen said the results will bring a third consecutive year of record levels.“We continue to believe our investment in new products and capacity will allow Deere to be the provider of choice for a growing global customer base in the years ahead,” Allen added. “In our view, broad trends based on a growing, more affluent, and increasingly mobile population have ample staying power and should help the company deliver substantial value to its customers, investors and other stakeholders in the future.” In the agriculture and turf division, sales increased 8 percent for the quarter and 12 percent for the nine-month period, based on higher shipment volumes and price realization. However, construction and forestry sales decreased 11 percent for the third quarter and 8 percent for the nine-month period. Deere expects worldwide sales of agriculture and turf to increase by about 7 percent for the full year, and decrease about 8 percent in the construction and forestry division.Full-year 2013 net income for Deere’s financial services division is expected to be about $560 million, an improvement compared to last year because of growth in the credit portfolio.
