Caterpillar has announced its fifth consecutive year of record profits.

One of the world’s leading manufacturers of mining and construction equipment, Caterpillar, has announced record second quarter financial results, with year-on-year profits up 34% to US$283 million (around £142m) and sales up 20% to $13.6 billion – despite the current US economic climate and high material costs.

“Never in my 35 plus years with the company have I seen Caterpillar do so well in the face of such a difficult economic climate in the United States,” said Jim Owens, Caterpillar’s Chairman and CEO, as the company’s results showed robust growth including profit-per-share up 40% to $1.74.

While growth within North America grew slightly, it was operations outside of the US that saw the biggest increase – sales and revenue were up 30%, representing 60% of Caterpillar’s total sales and revenues in the second quarter.

Owens continued: “While North America remains depressed and we’ve seen softening in Western Europe and Japan, Caterpillar continues to grow in emerging markets and in global industries like energy and mining … and we continue to see good growth in our integrated service businesses. It’s gratifying to see the positive impact of being such a diverse company in terms of products, services, geography and the industries we serve.”

The company expects the full sales and revenue total for 2008 to reach $50bn, with a profit of $6 per share.

Meanwhile, Cat Financial – Caterpillar’s subsidiary which provides financing to customers and Caterpillar dealers – has also announced record second quarter growth, with revenues up 5% to $785m and retail financing growth of 26%, up to $4.6bn.