Caterpillar expecting 3.5% growth in the Middle East
The Peoria-based giant is confident it will see 3.5% growth in the Middle East this year.
Caterpillar opened its new regional DC in Dubai earlier this summer
Caterpillar’s profit on the bottom line shrunk by 43.5% in the second quarter but the Peoria-based giant is confident it will see 3.5% growth in the Middle East this year.
Q2 in 2012 saw Caterpillar register profit of $1.7 billion. This year it fell short of the billion dollar mark making $960 million. It also missed the forecasted $1.7 per share earnings predicted by its throng of analysts. The $1.45 earnings per share were reflected by a fall of almost 3% on the New Stock Exchange.
Mike DeWalt, Caterpiller’s corporate controller described the US market as “steady, not falling apart, not getting a lot better.”
Sales of Caterpillar’s equipment in the mining sector, in which it is one of the biggest players, has been hit by a slowdown in spending especially in China. However DeWalt predicted that overall growth in the Chinese economy will reach 7.5% and “will continue to grow at a much faster pace than the rest of the world.”
Elsewhere the Middle East is expected to improve by 3.5% ahead of the vaunted Latin America market which will grow by 2.5%.
