Caterpillar Issues Earthshaking Profit Projections for 2008

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- Optimism abounded in the Friday morning financial statement of Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT), which projected phenomenal profits for this year in the range of five to 15 percent, the company said.

At the same time, the company reported record sales and revenues for the full-year 2007, with a four percent increase of profit from the previous year.

Caterpillar clearly believes its recent past of four straight years of record profits are a solid indicator of its future performance.

According to the company’s report of its fourth-quarter 2007 earnings, sales and revenues were up ten percent from the same period in 2006 to $12.144 billion, with an astounding 14 percent profit-per-share increase of $1.50.

The company attributed its excellent performance to its strong position in the global marketplace as an offset to softness in the U.S. economy.

"Our broad global footprint has enabled us to benefit from strong economic growth outside the United States, as global markets for mining, energy and infrastructure development are booming," said CEO/Chairman Jim Owens.

Likewise, Caterpillar clearly based its optimistic 2008 projections on an increase in growth its overseas markets, rather than an anticipated turnaround in the American economy.

In fact, Owens seemed to rule out any chance of the company experiencing an uptick in domestic sales this year, saying, “We're expecting recessionary conditions to persist in key markets we serve in the United States.”

"While we expect anemic growth in the U.S. economy, we continue to see positive conditions for our sales in most of the rest of the world,” he added.

NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate the business connections of Caterpillar’s Board of Directors as a method for assessing their knowledge of global business trends and for determining the likelihood that the company is on the right course for future earnings growth.

The Knowledge Map shows that five Caterpillar Directors also have board room membership with brand-name corporations.  Most notably, Director John T Dillon is also the CEO/Chairman of International Paper and serves as a Director for EI du Pont de Nemours & Co, Kellogg Co, and Vertis Inc.

The following Directors are also noteworthy:

Director Edward R Rust Jr serves on three other boards, including McGraw-Hill Companies Inc; Director David R Goode also serves on three other boards, including Texas Instruments Inc; and CEO/Chairman Owens himself also serves on the boards of Alcoa Inc and IBM Inc.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Click here or copy this link into your Internet Explorer browser for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=e9651983-e9ba-4935-bfba-044228135945