Caterpillar Reports Progress on Enterprise Strategy, Sustainability

DEERFIELD, Ill., May 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. CAT is illustrating how it's helping customers build a better world in its recently published 2019 Annual Report and Sustainability Report.  

To read the reports, visit http://caterpillar.com/reports.

"These reports demonstrate the execution of our enterprise strategy to deliver innovative products and services to make our customers more successful," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. "As we prepared the reports, COVID-19 became a global pandemic, presenting new challenges around the world. Because our customers help meet society's infrastructure, energy and resource needs both during the pandemic and beyond, our dedication to creating a more sustainable future is more important than ever." 

The Annual Report illustrates how Caterpillar is executing its strategy to create value for shareholders, employees and customers. Highlights from 2019 include: 

• Continued execution of our enterprise strategy for profitable growth, with a strong focus on operational excellence, expanded offerings and services with customers at the center of our purpose.
• Strong operational performance, including an operating profit margin of 15.4%.
• Return of $6.2 billion to shareholders, including $4.0 billion in share repurchases and raising the quarterly dividend by 20%.
• Relentless focus on services, resulting in a 2% increase toward our goal to double our Machinery, Energy & Transportation services revenues between 2016 and 2026.

The 2019 Sustainability Report, prepared in alignment with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) criteria for the first time, underscores how Caterpillar is providing value to customers by making sustainable progress possible through its operations, products, services and solutions that make safe, productive and efficient use of resources. Highlights from 2019 include:

• Dedication to the safety, health and well-being of our employees, resulting in our best safety performance on record.
• Providing services that transform traditional product support in ways that reduce environmental footprint, while providing innovative support to customers.
• Delivering expanded offerings in innovative and sustainable ways.
• Focusing on operational excellence, which translates to lean and efficient operations in the communities we serve.
• Continued progress on our 2020 goals, already achieving several in the areas of safety, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and managed fleet hours, with work underway to set future goals.

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About Caterpillar
Since 1925, Caterpillar Inc. has been helping our customers build a better world – making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. With 2019 sales and revenues of $53.8 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Services offered throughout the product life cycle, cutting-edge technology and decades of product expertise set Caterpillar apart, providing exceptional value to help our customers succeed. The company principally operates through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.

Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "forecast," "target," "guide," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (v) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position, including the imposition of new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates; (vi) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (vii) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (viii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (ix) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (x) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xi) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xii) adverse effects of unexpected events; (xiii) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xiv) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (xv) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvi) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xvii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xviii) currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xx) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxii) additional tax expense or exposure, including the impact of U.S. tax reform; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxiv) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxv) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and (xxvi) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.