Cummins Reports Strong Results for the Third Quarter of 2014

Third Quarter Revenues of $4.9 Billion, EBIT of 14.0 Percent of Sales; Full Year Revenue Expected to Grow Between 10 and 12 Percent and EBIT to Be in the Range of 13.0 to 13.5 Percent of Sales

COLUMBUS, IN -- (Marketwired) -- 10/28/14 -- Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) today reported results for the third quarter of 2014.

Third quarter revenue of $4.9 billion increased 15 percent from the same quarter in 2013. The increase year-over-year was driven by stronger demand in on-highway markets and distributor acquisitions in North America, additional content growth for the Components business in Europe and China and higher engine sales to commercial marine customers.

Revenues in North America increased 19 percent and international sales increased 10 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago. Within international markets, stronger demand in Western Europe and China offset weaker sales in Brazil.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were $684 million for the third quarter or 14.0 percent of sales. This compares to $536 million or 12.6 percent of sales a year ago.

Net income attributable to Cummins in the third quarter was $423 million ($2.32 per diluted share), compared to $355 million ($1.90 per diluted share) in the third quarter of 2013. The tax rate in the third quarter of 2014 was 34.4 percent and included a non-cash discrete tax expense of $19 million ($0.10 per diluted share).

"We delivered strong earnings and cash flow in the third quarter despite facing mixed conditions in international markets," said Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger. "Earnings improved in all four of our businesses compared to a year ago. During the third quarter we increased the quarterly dividend by 25 percent and repurchased 1.2 million shares putting us well on track to return 50 percent of annual operating cash flow to shareholders. Although results in our Power Generation business improved in the third quarter, global demand for power generation equipment remains weak. As a result we are considering certain actions to reduce our cost structure starting in the fourth quarter. The cost of the actions being considered could range from $15 million to $40 million."

Based on the current forecast, Cummins expects full year 2014 revenues to grow between 10 percent and 12 percent, up from its previous forecast of growth of between 8 percent and 11 percent, due to stronger demand in North America. EBIT is expected to be in the range of 13 to 13.5 percent of sales, excluding the impact of cost reduction activities within the Power Generation business that will commence in the fourth quarter.

Other recent highlights:

• Cummins was recognized with the 2014 Robert W. Campbell Award by the National Safety Council for excellence in health, safety and the environment

• Standard and Poor's Rating Services upgraded Cummins corporate credit rating to A+

• The Company was named to Gartner's Supply Chain Top 25 for the third consecutive year, and

• Cummins 6.7 liter Turbo Diesel was the first diesel engine in a medium-duty vehicle to be certified to meet Low-Emission Vehicle III (LEV III) Standards in the US

Third quarter 2014 detail (all comparisons to same period in 2013)

Engine Segment

• Sales -- $2.8 billion, up 13 percent

• Segment EBIT -- $330 million, or 11.7 percent of sales, compared to $272 million or 10.9 percent of sales

• Increased demand in on-highway markets in North America and in commercial marine markets offset weakness in the Brazilian truck market

Components Segment

• Sales -- $1.3 billion, up 20 percent

• Segment EBIT -- $172 million, or 13.4 percent of sales, compared to $132 million or 12.3 percent of sales

• Higher demand in on-highway markets in North America, Europe and China more than offset weaker demand in Brazil

Power Generation Segment

• Sales -- $754 million, up 6 percent

• Segment EBIT -- $60 million, or 8.0 percent of sales, compared to $45 million or 6.3 percent of sales

• Higher revenues in China, Africa and Middle East offset weaker sales in Mexico and Eastern Europe

Distribution Segment

• Sales -- $1.3 billion, up 37 percent overall and up 8 percent excluding acquisitions

• Segment EBIT -- $131 million, or 10.1 percent of sales, compared to $86 million or 9.1 percent of sales

• Higher revenues were primarily driven by acquisitions and stronger demand in North America, Asia and Africa

• Current quarter included gains of $18 million, and amortization costs of $7 million related to acquisitions

About Cummins

Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service diesel and natural gas engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, (USA) Cummins currently employs approximately 48,000 people worldwide and serves customers in approximately 190 countries and territories through a network of approximately 600 company-owned and independent distributor locations and approximately 6,800 dealer locations. Cummins earned $1.48 billion on sales of $17.3 billion in 2013. Press releases can be found on the Web at www.cummins.com. Follow Cummins on Twitter at @Cummins and on YouTube at Cummins Inc.

Forward-looking disclosure statement

Information provided in this release that is not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our forecasts, guidance, preliminary results, expectations, hopes, beliefs and intentions on strategies regarding the future. These forward looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to our plans and expectations for our revenues for the full year of 2014. Our actual future results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including, but not limited to: the adoption and implementation of global emission standards; the price and availability of energy; the pace of infrastructure development; increasing global competition among our customers; general economic, business and financing conditions; governmental action; changes in our customers' business strategies; competitor pricing activity; expense volatility; labor relations; and other risks detailed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including particularly in the Risk Factors section of our 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this press release and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov or at http://www.cummins.com in the Investor Relations section of our website.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Information
EBIT is a non-GAAP measure used in this release, and is defined and reconciled to what management believes to be the most comparable GAAP measure in a schedule attached to this release. Cummins presents this information as it believes it is useful to understanding the Company's operating performance, and because EBIT is a measure used internally to assess the performance of the operating units.

Webcast information
Cummins management will host a teleconference to discuss these results today at 10 a.m. EST. This teleconference will be webcast and available on the Investor Relations section of the Cummins website at  www.cummins.com . Participants wishing to view the visuals available with the audio are encouraged to sign-in a few minutes prior to the start of the teleconference.

The following files are available for download:

• PDF

(a) Prepared on an unaudited basis in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
(b) We revised the classification of certain amounts for "Cost of sales" and "Selling, general and administrative expenses." See
 supplemental schedules for additional information.

(a) Prepared on an unaudited basis in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
(b) We revised the classification of certain amounts for "Cost of sales" and "Selling, general and administrative expenses." See
 supplemental schedules for additional information.

(a) Prepared on an unaudited basis in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

(a) Prepared on an unaudited basis in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

⁽¹⁾ Includes intersegment sales and profit in inventory eliminations and unallocated corporate expenses. There were no significant unallocated corporate expenses for the three months ended September 28, 2014, June 29, 2014 and September 29, 2013. 
⁽²⁾ Depreciation and amortization as shown on a segment basis excludes the amortization of debt discount and deferred costs included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income as "Interest expense." 
⁽³⁾ Distribution segment EBIT for the three months ended September 28, 2014 and June 29, 2014 included gains of $18 million and $14 million on the fair value adjustments resulting from the acquisitions of controlling interests in North American distributors in each period, respectively.       

⁽¹⁾ Includes intersegment sales and profit in inventory eliminations and unallocated corporate expenses. There were no significant unallocated corporate expenses for the nine months ended September 28, 2014 and September 29, 2013. 
⁽²⁾ Depreciation and amortization as shown on a segment basis excludes the amortization of debt discount and deferred costs included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income as "Interest expense." The amortization of debt discount and deferred costs were $2 million and $8 million for the nine months ended September 28, 2014 and September 29, 2013, respectively. 
⁽³⁾ Distribution segment EBIT for the nine months ended September 28, 2014 and September 29, 2013 included gains of $38 million and $12 million on the fair value adjustments resulting from the acquisitions of controlling interests in North American distributors in each period, respectively.

A reconciliation of our segment information to the corresponding amounts in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income is shown in the table below:

NOTE 1. EQUITY, ROYALTY AND INTEREST INCOME FROM INVESTEES

Equity, royalty and interest income from investees included in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the reporting periods was as follows:

NOTE 2. INCOME TAXES

Our effective tax rate for the year is expected to approximate 29.5 percent, excluding any one-time items that may arise. The expected tax rate does not include the benefits of the research tax credit which expired December 31, 2013 and has not yet been renewed by Congress. Our tax rate is generally less than the 35 percent U.S. statutory income tax rate primarily due to lower tax rates on foreign income. 

The effective tax rates for the three and nine month periods ended September 28, 2014, were 34.4 percent and 30.4 percent, respectively. The tax rate for the three months ended September 28, 2014, included a $19 million discrete tax expense to reflect the reduction in value of state tax credits as a result of a favorable state tax rate change that will lower future taxes. Additionally, the tax rate for the nine month period included a second quarter $2 million discrete tax benefit for the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions related to multiple state audit settlements, a first quarter $12 million discrete tax expense attributable primarily to state deferred tax adjustments, as well as a first quarter $6 million discrete net tax benefit resulting from a $70 million dividend paid from China earnings generated prior to 2012.

Our effective tax rate for the three month period ended June 29, 2014, was 26.5 percent. The tax rate included a $2 million discrete tax benefit for the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions related to multiple state audit settlements. 

Our effective tax rates for the three and nine month periods ended September 29, 2013, were 29.2 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively. These tax rates include a $7 million discrete net tax expense for the third quarter tax adjustments: $4 million expense attributable to prior year tax return true-up adjustments, $1 million benefit related to release of prior year tax reserves and a discrete tax charge for $4 million related to a third quarter enactment of U.K. tax law changes. In addition, the nine month tax rate includes a discrete tax benefit in the first quarter of 2013 of $28 million attributable to the reinstatement of the research credit back to 2012, as well as a discrete tax expense in the first quarter of 2013 of $17 million, which primarily relates to the write-off of a deferred tax asset deemed unrecoverable.

The increase in the three month effective tax rate from 2013 to 2014 is primarily due to unfavorable changes in the jurisdictional mix of pre-tax income and the 2014 unfavorable discrete tax items.

NOTE 3. ACQUISITION  

Cummins Eastern Canada LP

On August 4, 2014, we acquired the remaining 50 percent interest in Cummins Eastern Canada LP (Eastern Canada) from the former distributor principal. The preliminary purchase consideration was $62 million, which included $22 million in cash and an additional $32 million to eliminate outstanding debt. The remaining $8 million will be paid in future periods. The intangible assets are primarily customer related, the majority of which will be amortized within one year subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The acquisition was accounted for as a business combination and the results of the acquired entity were included in the Distribution operating segment subsequent to the acquisition date. As a result of this transaction, third quarter 2014 Distribution segment results included an $18 million gain, as we were required to re-measure our pre-existing 50 percent ownership interest in Eastern Canada to fair value. The transaction generated $5 million of goodwill based on the preliminary purchase price allocation. Net sales for Eastern Canada were $228 million for the year ended December 31, 2013. This amount is not fully incremental to our consolidated sales as the amount would be reduced by the elimination of sales to the previously unconsolidated entity.

Earnings before interest, taxes and noncontrolling interests

We define EBIT as earnings before interest expense, income tax expense and noncontrolling interests in income of consolidated subsidiaries (EBIT). We use EBIT to assess and measure the performance of our operating segments and also as a component in measuring our variable compensation programs. This measure is not in accordance with, or an alternative for, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and may not be consistent with measures used by other companies. It should be considered supplemental data. Below is a reconciliation of EBIT to "Net income attributable to Cummins Inc.," for each of the applicable periods:

Supplemental Information

This Current Report on Form 8-K includes supplemental unaudited historical "Cost of sales" and "Selling, general and administrative expenses" information. We revised the classification of certain amounts for "Cost of sales" and "Selling, general and administrative expenses" for 2014, 2013 and 2012. In connection with the integration of recently acquired North American distributors and anticipating the future acquisition and integration of the entire North American channel, our Distribution segment has developed a framework against which Distribution management intends to measure the performance of the distribution channel. The segment EBIT (defined as earnings before interest expense, taxes and noncontrolling interests) performance measure is unchanged, however, certain activities that were previously classified in "Selling, general and administrative expenses" will be classified as "Cost of sales" to align with the new framework and allow for consistent treatment across the channel. We revised the expense presentation of our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the periods presented below to follow the new cost framework. The net impact of this revision for the six months ended June 29, 2014 and years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 were $39 million, $103 million and $92 million, respectively. The revision had no impact on reported net income, cash flows or the balance sheet. We will begin to report comparative results under the new framework with the filing of our Quarterly Report for the quarter ending September 28, 2014.

The following schedule reflects the change in cost of sales, gross margin, gross margin percentage trend, selling, general and administrative expenses and the impact of the change on the trend for selling, general and administrative expenses and research, development and engineering expenses (SARS).

Engine segment net sales by market:

Unit shipments by engine classification (including unit shipments to Power Generation):

Component segment sales by business:

Power Generation segment sales by business: