Thanks to weakness in its core markets, farm and construction equipment, sales and profits fell for Deere and Company. Wednesday it reported results for the fiscal year that ended last month.
Herb Trix reports.
Summary
Even though worldwide sales dropped 20 per cent, and net income fell 38 per cent, spokesman Ken Golden says Deere is still doing well.
For ag equipment, he says the key is commodity prices, and during the past year they fell worldwide.
Housing starts in the US are now tilting toward multi-family homes, instead of single family, meaning lower sales for construction equipment, and weakness in the energy business, especially in Canada, also hurt sales in that sector.
For the coming year, Deere is now predicting sales will fall 7 per cent and profits will drop 26 per cent.