Caterpillar - What We've Built. Where We're Headed. What We're Solving

PEORIA, Ill., March 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) published its annual Year in Review and Sustainability Report today, detailing the progress made in 2015 despite challenging economic conditions. Recognizing Caterpillar's 90-year history as a global leader of sustainable progress, the tandem reports – titled "What We've Built. Where We're Headed." and "What We've Built. What We're Solving." – highlight the company's success managing through a difficult business cycle by focusing on cost management and innovative, durable products that meet customer needs and help solve some of the world's toughest challenges associated with energy, water, land and climate.

"World population growth will continue to drive increased demand for energy, commodities, infrastructure and transportation – all of which require the power, endurance and sophistication of Cat® equipment," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO, Doug Oberhelman. "We believe it's possible to promote progress, balancing economic growth with society's needs and reducing impact on the environment. With our strategic focus on the long term, and the prudent steps we're taking now, we are investing in the future and successfully executing today."

The 2015 Year in Review, "What We've Built. Where We're Headed." details Caterpillar's long history supporting economic development and introducing innovative products, services and solutions; it also showcases how we will continue to create value for our customers, our stockholders and the communities we serve. A few of the performance indicators highlighted include:

• Increasing the quarterly dividend by 10 percent in 2015.
• Increasing market share for machines for the fifth year in a row.
• Research and development spending as a percentage of sales is as high as it's been in more than a decade.  

The 2015 Sustainability report, "What We've Built. What We're Solving." highlights our progress in making sustainable progress possible across the enterprise, starting with our people and operations, through our value chain, to our products and customers around the world. Specific sustainable development achievements highlighted include:

• An intensified focus on renewable and alternative energy development and energy access, specifically through microgrid technology, solar panels and energy storage systems.
• Amplifying discussions on the need to restore natural infrastructure, in order to maintain and restore the critical services ecosystems provide including carbon sequestration and natural resources.
• Continued success in building a safety culture, reducing Recordable Injury Frequency by 90.5 percent from the 2003 base year and 17 percent from the last reporting period. 

To read the reports, visit reports.caterpillar.com.

About Caterpillar

For 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent.  Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets.  With 2015 sales and revenues of $47.011 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.  The company principally operates through its three product segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment.  For more information, visit caterpillar.com.  To connect with us 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," "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 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) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi) 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; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 16, 2016 for the year ended December 31, 2015.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.

Related Links

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