Business Roundup: Cat sales jump; BlueLine completes acquisition; Loader sales trends; Volvo CE sales up; CNH profits up

Caterpillar Q2 sales up 9.5%, profit jumps 45%

Caterpillar’s second quarter 2017 sales and revenues increased by 9.5 percent compared to 2016, reaching $11.3 billion. In response the company released an improved outlook for the remainder of the year.

“Our team delivered an impressive quarter. As demand increased, we continued to control costs and generated higher profit margins,” says CEO Jim Umpleby regarding the company’s financial details released July 25. “While a number of our end markets remain challenged, construction in China and gas compression in North America were highlights in the quarter. Mining and oil-related activities have come off of recent lows, and we are seeing improving demand for construction in most regions.”

Cat reports profit per share of $1.35, compared to $0.93 for the second quarter of 2016, and an adjusted profit per share of $1.49, compared to $1.09 last year.

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BlueLine Rental completes acquisition of Capital Rentals

BlueLine Rental, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, has completed its purchase of Capital Rentals, a move that expands BlueLine’s reach in the market surrounding Washington, D.C. Details of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Capital, founded in 1969, has four locations in Virginia and one in Maryland. BlueLine reports the D.C. market is a top 10 metropolitan statistical area for rental revenue according to a recent IHS Global ranking.

“At BlueLine we believe our heart of an independent is what sets us apart from other large competitors,” says CEO Asterios Satrazemis. “Today we strengthened our team and improved our density in Washington D.C., ultimately positioning us to better serve our customers in the market.”

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INFOGRAPHIC: Wheel loader sales and buyer trends

A snapshot of new and used sales trends of wheel loaders from Randall-Reilly’s Equipment Data Associates and TopBid auction price service.

View the infographic here.

 

Volvo CE Q2 sales spike 36%, operating income up three-fold

Volvo Construction Equipment says its second quarter 2017 net sales grew by 36 percent compared to the same quarter last year, to 18.51 billion Swedish Krona (SEK) ($2.23 billion).

For the first half of 2017, the company’s net sales total of 34.67 billion SEK ($417.3 million), an increase of 32.9 percent compared to the first half of last year.

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Operating income for the quarter, the company reports, increased by more than three times to 2.46 billion SEK ($296.95 million) from 810 million SEK ($97.77 million) in the same period in 2016, resulting in an operating margin of 13.3 percent.

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CNH Industrial Q2 revenues up 3%, profit up 23%

CNH Industrial, parent company of Case Construction Equipment, reported a revenue increase of 2.9 percent to $6.9 billion for second quarter 2017, compared to 2016, and says adjusted net income rose 23 percent to $266 million.

The company says operating profit from Industrial Activities reached $481 million for the quarter, $28 million more than the second quarter of 2016. Operating margin was slightly better than last year at 7.2 percent.

Net sales for Construction Equipment increased 13.6 percent compared to 2016, an increase CNHI attributes to “strengthening of NAFTA and APAC markets.” Operating profit for this sector reached $17 million, roughly the same as 2016, with a slightly lower operating margin of 2.5 percent.

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