Cummins' profit jump tied to North American demand
Fourth-quarter profit rose 51% on surging sales of engines for heavy-duty commercial trucks in North America.The engine maker's results for the quarter easily topped analysts expectations and the company predicted its total revenue in 2012 will climb by 10% above the 2011 level. The Indiana company anticipates sales improvement this year across all four of its business segments, even with sluggish market conditions in China and Brazil during the first half of the year.
Investors responded to the company's strong fourth-quarter results and bullish outlook by driving Cummins' stock up 7% to $113.37 a share in recent trading.
Cummins said its performance in the quarter was fueled by its engine and replacement-parts businesses. Engine sales rose growth 23% from a year earlier to $3.1 billion, as engine profit grew 44% to $368 million. Demand for Cummins' commercial truck engines was particularly strong as the company benefited from rebounding sales of commercial trucks in North America following a long slump in demand for trucks. Cummins' fourth-quarter sales of heavy-duty truck engines rose 68% from a year earlier.
What now for the hopes and plans of Ireland's middle-earners?
KATHY SHERIDAN
WHEN VIVIAN CUMMINS, an architect, and his partner, Erney Breytenbach, were at the final stage of approval for becoming foster carers, a social worker felt bound to pose a serious concern. Weren’t they “a bit, um, middle-class”?
What was a man to do? Apologise? For what?The social worker was considering the effect on the child of being shuttled between a dysfunctional, unlovely home and the couple’s rural haven of art, antique rugs, pedigree dogs, freshly brewed coffee and large dollops of idealism, but nevertheless Cummins seethed. It was Breytenbach, a baggage-free South African, who broke the tension: “A bit?”, he retorted, with a roar of laughter.
It’s an issue that often surfaces in interviews such as this. People with decent aspirations – to earn a degree, own a home, educate their children at carefully chosen schools, enjoy an annual holiday, plan for old age and a comfortable retirement – complain that such ambitions are perceived almost as character flaws.
