Manufacturers Report Financial Results

Several farm equipment manufacturers released earnings reports recently. Among highlights:

AGCO reported net sales increased by 11.5 percent in the third quarter compared to last year. For the first nine months of the year, net sales increased by 17 percent over 2017.

AGCO’s North American net sales increased 22.2 percent in the first nine months of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017, excluding the positive impact of currency translation.

At Kubota, revenue in the farm and industrial machinery segment increased by 8.7 percent compared to the same period last year. The increase was driven by the sale of tractors and construction equipment, the company said.

Domestic revenue in the segment increased by 4.6 percent. Overseas revenue increased by 9.8 percent.

At CNH, agricultural equipment net sales increased 4 percent in the third quarter compared to last year. The increase was primarily the result of price realization across all regions and higher sales volumes in North America.

Alamo Group reported an overall gain in net sales for the quarter but slipped in sales of farm equipment. Its net income for the third quarter was up 41.9 percent compared to last year—a record increase.

Net sales for the quarter in the agriculture division were down by 5.3 percent. For the first nine months, however, net sales in ag increased by 4.8 percent.

President and CEO Ron Robinson said that while ag results are off, they are still good “primarily due to operational efficiencies which helped mitigate the impact of higher input costs and lower sales.”

In Valmont’s irrigation segment, global sales were 4.9 percent below last year, although North American revenue increased by more than 16 percent.