Printer Friendly
The Free Library
5,677,732 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Despite Deere's downturn, regular dividend paid.


The Deere & Co. board of directors announced on Dec. 11 that they would pay the regular quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share Cents per share

The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned.
, payable Feb. 3, to shareholders of record on Dec. 31, 1991.

The day before the declaration, the company noted it was taking a one-time charge of $120 million to cover costs of cutting 2,100 jobs over the next two to three years, and closing a foundry A semiconductor manufacturer that makes chips for third parties. It may be a large chip maker that sells its excess manufacturing capacity or one that makes chips exclusively for other companies. . Because of that one-time charge, what would have been a profit of $99.8 million for the 1991 fiscal year became a loss of $20.2 million - which equates to a loss of 27 cents per share for the fiscal year that ended October 31.

Hans W. Becherer Hans W. Becherer (1935 - ) received his undergraduate education at Trinity College (Connecticut) and his MBA from Harvard. He became president of Deere & Company in 1987 and led the Company as CEO from 1989 to 2000 following the financial farm crisis of the 1980s. , Deere's chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , forecast a flat market for the near future, saying "initial 1992 worldwide production, in tons, is scheduled to be about the same as the company's actual 1991 output...agricultural production is scheduled to be down modestly from last year, but offset by increases in lawn and grounds care equipment and industrial equipment schedules."

Becherer declared that "although the economic fundamentals of North American North American

named after North America.


North American blastomycosis
see North American blastomycosis.

North American cattle tick
see boophilusannulatus.
 agriculture remain relatively strong, we expect farms to remain cautious in making new product purchase decisions in 1992. Consequently, domestic agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery is one of the most revolutionary and impactful applications of modern technology. The truly elemental human need for food has often driven the development of technology and machines.  retail sales are expected to remain near 1991 levels."

Comment: Is it meaningful that the only publicly-traded North American farm machinery company that makes its own lawn-and-garden product line is also the current dominant manufacturer on the continent?

Case, and Massey-Ferguson and Allis-Chalmers all once had their own lawn and garden lines. Deere started small in that market segment, making it's own riding mowers but selling private-label walk-behinds. Now Deere designs and build the bulk of its consumer and commercial product, except for chain saws, trimmers and other small items.

Deere's lawn and grounds operation is expected to help prop up Verb 1. prop up - support by placing against something solid or rigid; "shore and buttress an old building"
prop, shore up, shore

hold up, support, sustain, hold - be the physical support of; carry the weight of; "The beam holds up the roof"; "He supported
 the bottom line during 1992. In fiscal '91, Deere sold $780 million in consumer and commercial grounds equipment, down a long way from 1990 sales of $912 million. Importantly, insiders say, the "little" division is turning a profit.

Deere's captive finance company Captive Finance Company

A subsidiary whose purpose is to provide financing to customers buying the parent company's product.

Notes:
The captive finance company is usually wholly owned by the parent company.
 is also doing nicely - it showed a revenue increase of 11 percent and broke into the billion-dollar club in 1991 with revenues of $1.078 billion.

So...it appears Deere has succeeded in its policy of keeping "minor" functions like finance and consumer products tightly controlled in-house, rather than letting outsiders handle the work. There may be a lesson in that for dealers and distributors.
COPYRIGHT 1992 Scissortail Productions LLC
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1992, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Editor's Notebook: News is Shaping Industry
Author:Nesbitt, Scott
Publication:Implement & Tractor
Article Type:Brief Article
Date:Jan 1, 1992
Words:415
Previous Article:Case picks Campbell as new president, (J.I. Case Co.; Edward J. Campbell) (Editor's Notebook: News is Shaping Industry) (Brief Article)
Next Article:An old promotion pays off. (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Inc. Agricultural Chemicals Div.)
Topics:



Related Articles
Staying in business 150 years. (Deere & Co.) (editorial)
Deere & Co.: reshaping for the future. (includes related articles)(Company Profile)
Outlook for farm equipment in 1996: will it be the stock winner some experts suggest?
Caterpillar vs Deere: can Cat's shape be trademarked?
What's That Thing Worth?
Simple to operate, flexible in application: John Deere's new tractors with IVT, AutoClutch, PowerZero.
Virtual reality...it's (not) only make believe: the design and build process for tractors has (virtually) undergone a complete restructuring.
Finger pick-up meter assembly.(New Planting Accessories from John Deere)
Deere compact track loader.(Product Review)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles