Cummins 1Q profit up 43 pct., N. America strong

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — Cummins Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit jumped 43 percent, boosted by higher demand from truck, power generation and construction markets in North America.

The Columbus, Ind.-based company, which makes diesel engines and power-generation equipment, posted a profit of $455 million, or $2.38 per share, compared with $343 million, or $1.75 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Sales rose 16 percent to $4.47 billion from $3.86 billion. Engine sales jumped 20 percent to $2.9 billion and components sales rose 19 percent to $1.1 billion.

The results beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts, on average, expected a profit of $2.21 per share on $4.39 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Cummins said that higher demand from North American markets, along with global mining markets, offset weaker demand from Brazil's truck market, the Chinese construction market and European construction and power generation markets.

The company still expects revenue to grow 10 percent this year. Based on its 2011 sales, the prediction implies 2012 sales of $19.86 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet expect $20.09 billion.

Cummins shares fell $3.13, or 2.7 percent, to $112.70 in morning trading.