Caterpillar Inc. Maintains Dividend Rate
PEORIA, Ill., April 8, 2015 -- The Board of Directors of
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) voted today to maintain the quarterly cash
dividend of seventy cents ($0.70) per share of common stock, payable May 20,
2015, to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 20, 2015.
"I am pleased to announce we are maintaining Caterpillar's dividend," said
Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. "In 2014, we kept a strong
balance sheet and delivered the third highest operating cash flow in our
history. In addition, we returned a record $5.8 billion in capital to
stockholders through dividends and stock repurchase. This dividend supports our
commitment to deliver superior returns to stockholders through the cycles."
Caterpillar has paid higher dividends to its stockholders for 21 consecutive
years, and since 2006, the company's cash dividend has more than doubled.
Including the announcement today, Caterpillar has paid a cash dividend every
year since the company was formed and has paid a quarterly dividend since 1933.
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
2014 sales and revenues of $55.184 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
17, 2015, for the year ended December 31, 2014.
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.
CONTACT: Rachel Potts, Global Government & Corporate Affairs, Office:
309-675-6892, Cell: 309-573-3444, Potts_Rachel_A@cat.com