Deere offers upbeat forecast on construction rebound

Deere & Co offered a surprisingly upbeat earnings forecast for 2014 yesterday, saying sales of construction and forestry equipment in the coming year should offset an anticipated slowdown in demand for agricultural machinery.

Shares in the world’s largest maker of tractors and harvesters rose 2.6 per cent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the company issued the outlook and reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

The past five years have been great for farmers and companies like Deere that supply their equipment.

However, Deere acknowledged worldwide sales of agriculture and turf equipment would fall about 6 per cent in 2014 but its other businesses are expected do well as the housing recovery gains traction, it said. – (Reuters)