CNH sees sharp fall in construction equipment sales

CNH’s sales of construction equipment fell -20.7% in the third quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year. Revenues came in at US$ 830 million, compared to US$ 1.05 billion a year ago, and the division made an operating loss of US$ 15 million, compared to Q3, 2011’s profit of US$ 49 million.

The company pointed to a widespread slowdown in end markets as the reason for the poor results, saying Latin America was down -12%, while the Asia-Pacific region was down for the third quarter in a row. CNH added that it had cut production to slightly below retail sales levels in the quarter in an effort to balance inventory levels, particularly in Europe and Latin America.

The company’s outlook for the year is that the worldwide construction equipment market will be down between 0% and -5% on last year. It added that it had maintained its market share during the third quarter, and even made some gains in Latin America thanks to new product launches.