As expected, sales, revenue, and profits all fell for John Deere. Wednesday the company reported results for the 4th quarter and its 2016 fiscal year.
Spokesman Ken Golden says for the year, sales and revenue fell 8 per cent, and profits dropped 21 per cent.
"We're still in the middle of a global farm recession. And in our other big global business, we're having difficult conditions in the construction equipment sector. So when you add up both of those, you have years that are down from previous record years in 2011, 12, and 13."
But despite that, he says it was still one of Deere's ten best years ever.
For this year, the company now predicts sales and revenue will decline just one per cent, including a one per cent decline for ag equipment.
"We're beginning to see indications that the downturn in large ag is nearing the bottom of the cycle. And so we're only projecting a slight decrease in agricultural equipment sales next year."
But Golden says construction equipment sales should increase one per cent, thanks to rising housing starts and an improving economy in the US.
Worldwide net sales for 2016 totaled 26.6 billion dollars - down 2.2 billion from the previous year. And profits fell to 1.5 billion - a drop of 400 million dollars.
