Deere Q4 Profit Climbs; Sees $3.3 Bln Of Net Profit In FY14 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Farm & construction machinery maker Deere & Co. (DE) posted higher fourth-quarter net income attributable to the company of $806.8 million, or $2.11 per share, versus last year's $687.6 million, or $1.75 per share. On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $1.89 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

For the quarter, worldwide net sales and revenues slid 3 percent year-on-year to $9.45 billion, from $9.79 billion, with net sales of the equipment operations falling 5 percent to $8.62 billion, from $9.05 billion a year ago. Eleven analysts estimated revenues of $8.68 billion for the recent period.

Looking ahead, fiscal 2014 company equipment sales are projected to decrease about 3 percent and be down about 2 percent for the first quarter compared with the year-ago periods. For fiscal 2014, net income attributable to Deere & Co. is expected to be about $3.3 billion. The outlook contemplates the sale of 60 percent of John Deere Landscapes operations, as announced earlier.