Caterpillar quarterly earnings dive 70% year-on-year

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc on Friday reported lower second-quarter earnings as a crippling recession sparked by the coronavirus pandemic made customers wary of big purchases, crimping equipment sales.

In the second quarter, the heavy equipment maker reported a profit of 84 cents per share, down 70.3% year on year.

Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, on average, expected earnings of 68 cents per share.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; editing by Jason Neely)