Full-year sales and revenues in 2021 were US$51.0bn, up 22% compared with US$41.7bn in 2020. The manufacturer says the increase reflected higher end-user demand for equipment and services and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealers decreased their inventories US$2.9bn in 2020, while remaining about flat in 2021. Operating profit margin was 13.5% for 2021, compared with 10.9% for 2020.
Full-year profit was US$11.83 per share in 2021, compared with profit of US$5.46 per share in 2020. Adjusted profit per share in 2021 was US$10.81, compared with adjusted profit per share of US$6.56 in 2020.
Sales and revenues for the fourth quarter of 2021 were US$13.8bn, a 23% increase compared with US$11.2bn in the fourth quarter of 2020. Operating profit margin was 11.7% for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 12.3% for the fourth quarter of 2020. Fourth-quarter 2021 profit per share was US$3.91, compared with US$1.42 profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2020. Adjusted profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2021 was US$2.69, compared with fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted profit per share of US$2.12. Fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted profit per share also reflected a lower-than-expected effective tax rate.
CFO Andrew Bonfield said the company had seen strong volume growth and heavy demand in its heavy construction, mining and quarrying/aggregates operations in Q4.
The company says that, despite strong overall demand, supply chain constraints resulting from the pandemic continue to increase manufacturing costs and impact operating margins.
Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby commented: “I’m proud of our global team’s continued resilience in what proved to be a challenging and dynamic operating environment. We delivered adjusted operating profit margins and ME&T free cash flows consistent with our long-term targets established during our 2019 Investor Day.
“Amid ongoing supply chain constraints, our team continues to execute our strategy for long-term profitable growth while striving to meet customer demand.”
In 2021, adjusted profit per share excluded mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) plans and restructuring costs. In 2020, adjusted profit per share excluded mark-to-market losses for remeasurement of pension and OPEB plans and restructuring costs.
For the full year of 2021, enterprise operating cash flow was US$7.2bn. During the year, the company repurchased US$2.7bn of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of US$2.3bn. Liquidity remained strong with an enterprise cash balance of US$9.3bn at the end of 2021.
