Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins Inc. saw its revenues decrease 38 percent in the second quarter, due to what it said were COVID-19-related customer shutdowns and weak economic activity that affected most regions except China.
Sales in North America declined by 48 percent, while international revenue decreased 22 percent.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the second quarter were $549 million, compared with $1.1 billion a year ago.
“I want to thank our employees all over the globe for their dedication to our company and to our customers,” said Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger. “They continue to work safely and effectively through an incredibly challenging period, with unprecedented disruptions to global demand and supply, to their work processes, and to their daily lives. In the face of the most severe decline in quarterly sales in our history, we delivered solid profitability while meeting commitments to our customers who provide products critical to the functioning of the global economy.
“Our people demonstrated remarkable flexibility, as did our operations and supply chain. A pronounced example of our organization’s agility in this challenging period was our ramp up in China, where many of our facilities went from complete shut down in February and March to producing record volumes in the second quarter.”
“While customer demand did improve in some regions as the quarter progressed, significant uncertainty around the pace of recovery in our markets remains, requiring a continued strong focus on managing expenses and cash flow. Our strong financial position will enable us to continue to prioritize our investments in technology and new products including advanced diesel engines, battery electric powertrains, fuel cells, and hydrogen electrolyzers that will help drive future profitable growth.”
In its outlook for the remainder of 2020, Cummins stated: “The company currently expects third quarter revenues to improve from second quarter levels, however, there remains significant uncertainty around how COVID-19 will impact end market demand as well as customer and supplier operations. Due to this uncertainty the company is not providing full year revenue or profitability guidance for 2020.”
The company shared these highlights for the second quarter:
- Announced an external-facing approach to complement the company’s internal diversity and inclusion activities, including the creation of the Cummins Against Racial Injustice Management Review Group to focus on police reform, criminal justice, social justice, and economic empowerment of Black people in the United States.
- Manufactured more than 14 tons of its filtration media which has been used to produce more than eight million N95 and surgical masks globally.
- Cummins announced a joint venture with NPROXX, a leader in hydrogen storage and transportation, for hydrogen storage tanks. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q1 in 2021.
- Published the Cummins Work Playbook, a one-stop resource highlighting health and wellness protocols that ensure the safety of the company’s employees, customers, suppliers and communities during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
