Caterpillar: Price rises help profit pass £100m at UK arm

Profit at the UK arm of Caterpillar has jumped past £100m after its international sales surged during its latest financial year.

The Leicestershire-headquartered division has posted a pre-tax profit of £102.2m for 2023, up from the £74.4m it achieved in 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its turnover rose from £1.33bn to £1.59bn over the same 12-month period.

Caterpillar, which has manufacturing sites in Desford and Peterlee, said that “price action” was taken in the year to “accommodate continued commodity cost increases”.

Caterpillar’s UK sales rose from £684,000 to £4m in the year while they jumped from £800.6m to £898.5m in the rest of Europe and from £533.4m to £696.2m in the rest of the world.

During the year the average number of people employed by Caterpillar rose from 2,308 to 2,439.

Rising costs offset by strong sales

A statement signed off by the board said: “Production also remained stable as facilities operated efficiently with less supply chain disruption than [the] prior year alongside strong demand.

“Manufacturing stability, strong demand and favourable economic climate resulted in a year of growth.

“The balance sheet was strengthened by an increase in amounts owed by related parties, following planned working capital increases and decrease ins tock at year end.

“In summary, this is a result of strong production and sales which resulted in an increase in working capital at year end.

“Turnover was higher in 2023, principally due to strong demand for product offerings and price action taken to accommodate rising commodity costs complemented by a stabilised supply chain.

“This has also resulted in an increase in operating profit and profit before tax.”

Caterpillar raises concerns over ‘softening of demand’

On its future, Caterpillar added: “2023 was a strong year, a continuation from the last quarter in 2022.

“Caterpillar UK was able to satisfy the increased demand by maximising a stable supply chain, increased supply of transportation and stable manufacturing processes.

“Although the year of 2023 ended with strong demand, there is the potential for a softening of demand in 2024.

“This can be linked to economic lifecycle with a potential for a fall in the housing market requirements to countries in which products are supplied.”

For the same financial year, the division’s US-headquartered parent company posted sales of $67.1bn (£50.3bn), up 13 per cent compared with $59.4bn (£44.6bn) in 2022.