Caterpillar more than quadrupled its fourth-quarter profit as stronger demand helped increase global sales of mining and construction equipment.
The Peoria, Ill., based company said Thursday that it generated $968 million net income, or $1.47 per share. That's much higher than last year's $232 million net income, or 36 cents per share, but last year's fourth quarter was also hurt by layoff costs that consumed 5 cents per share of profit.
Caterpillar said its revenue jumped 62 percent to $12.8 billion in the quarter over last year's $7.9 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Caterpillar to report quarterly earnings per share of $1.27 on revenue of $11.7 billion.
The company predicts a 2011 profit of nearly $6 per share on more than $50 billion in sales. Analysts expected $5.84 a share on $48.6 billion.
Caterpillar shares rose 2.3 percent in pre-market trading.
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