Net income attributable to Deere & Company was $510.3 million, or $1.57 per share, for the fourth quarter ended October 29, 2017, compared with $285.3 million, or $0.90 per share, for the quarter ended October 30, 2016. For fiscal 2017, net income attributable to Deere & Company was $2.159 billion, or $6.68 per share, compared with $1.524 billion, or $4.81 per share, in 2016.
Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 23 percent, to $8.018 billion, for the fourth quarter and increased 12 percent, to $29.738 billion, for the full year. Net sales of the equipment operations were $7.094 billion for the quarter and $25.885 billion for the year, compared with respective totals of $5.650 billion and $23.387 billion in 2016.
"John Deere has completed another successful year as markets for farm and construction equipment showed improvement and our actions to build a more durable business model yielded strong results," said Samuel R. Allen, chairman and chief executive officer, adding that the year's sales and earnings were the fifth-highest in company history. "We saw higher overall demand for our products with farm machinery sales in South America making especially strong gains and construction equipment sales rising sharply. At the same time, the company realized continued benefits from its broad product portfolio and agile cost structure. As a result, Deere has remained well-positioned to serve present customers while making investments aimed at driving growth and attracting additional customers in the future."
Investments made or announced during the year included the acquisition of the Wirtgen Group, the world's leading manufacturer of road construction equipment. The transaction is expected to be finalized next month. "Wirtgen will establish Deere as a substantially more prominent player in global construction-equipment markets," Allen said.
Source: Deere