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Deere Reports Third Quarter Earnings08-15-06 | News

Deere Reports Third Quarter Earnings

MOLINE, Illinois ?EUR??,,????'??+ Deere & Company announced Tuesday worldwide net income of $436 million for the third quarter ended July 31, compared with $387.1 million for the same period last year.

?EUR??,,????'??We are seeing continued benefit from our successful efforts to restrain costs and operate with lower assets,?EUR??,,????'?? said Robert W. Lane, chairman and chief executive officer. ?EUR??,,????'??At the same time, the company’s advanced new equipment and service offerings are bringing value and productivity to a growing, increasingly global group of customers.?EUR??,,????'??

For the first nine months, net income was $1.416 billion compared with $1.214 billion last year. Nine-month net income from continuing operations was $1.177 billion compared with $1.193 billion last year.

Worldwide net sales and revenues increased eight percent to $6.267 billion for the third quarter, compared with a year ago, and increased five percent to $17.030 billion for the first nine months. Net sales of the equipment operations were $5.677 billion for the quarter and $15.398 billion for nine months, compared with $5.370 billion and $14.916 billion for the respective periods last year.

Deere?EUR??,,????'???s equipment divisions reported operating profit of $583 million for the quarter and $1.630 billion for nine months, compared with $500 million and $1.618 billion for the periods last year. Higher operating profit for the quarter was primarily the result of improved price realization, partially offset by the impact of planned lower manufacturing volumes in the agricultural division. Nine-month operating profit was higher due to improved price realization and lower retirement benefit costs. Partially offsetting these factors were the negative effect of planned lower manufacturing volumes, higher selling and administrative expenses primarily related to growth and share-based compensation expense, and increased raw-material costs.