Deere and Company says worldwide equipment sales dropped six percent over the past 12 months but bigger drops are expected in the months ahead.
Deere announced its fourth quarter earnings Wednesday, November 26 saying full year earnings for the fiscal year that ended on Halloween were down $400 million dollars from the year before. But at $3.162 billion dollars, it’s still the second highest annual total for the Moline-based agricultural equipment manufacturer.
Deere is the Quad City’s largest manufacturer.
The company says the biggest drops were seen in the sale of large farm machinery, including many of Deere’s most profitable models
Deere says its equipment sales are projected to decrease about 15% for the next 12 months with one of the biggest drops, a 21% decrease, expected in the next three months.
“Even with a significant decline in sales and a continued pullback in the global agricultural sector, John Deere expects to remain solidly profitable in 2015,” Deere chairman and chief executive officer Samuel Allen said in a news release.
“John Deere has completed another year of solid performance in spite of weaker conditions in the global farm sector, which caused sales and earnings to decline from the record totals of 2013,” said Allen.
Allen also remains optimistic about the long-range future for Deere and Company.
“Deere’s plans for serving a larger global customer base are making good progress,” he said.
“As a result, we are confident the company is positioned to earn solid returns throughout the business cycle and to realize substantial benefits from the world’s growing need for food, shelter and infrastructure in the years ahead.”
You can find the entire Deere and Company earnings report and the company’s analyses by clicking on this link.
