Deere and Company is already prepared for next year's downturn in agricultural markets. That's according to today's earnings report.
The company says profits for the full year totaled $3.1 billion, which is second only to 2013's record income of $3.5 billion. The company earned $8.63 per share, compared to $9.09 a year ago.
Director of Global Public Relations, Ken Golden, says the numbers represent a significant accomplishment for Deere because the weak conditions in the global farm sector were unexpected a year ago.
Deere predicts sales of its agriculture and turf machinery will decline 20 percent this year.
But Golden says the good news is sales in the Construction and Forestry Division jumped 12 percent last year and are expected to increase five percent this year.
Deere's earnings projection for 2015 is $1.9 billion. That may sound like a big drop from record earnings of $3.5 billion in 2013 and $3.1 billion in 2014.
Golden says Deere has improved as a business by increasing diversity in its product lines, and reacting much more quickly to market changes. Plus $1.9 billion would be the sixth highest annual income for the company.
Chairman and CEO Sam Allen says despite the declines, it was, "another year of solid performance in spite of weaker conditions in the global farm sector." And the decreases were most pronounced in the sale of large farm machinery, including many of Deere's most profitable models.
