By Doug Cameron Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES CNH Global N.V. (CNH) said orders for its farm and construction equipment improved during January, but its stock dropped after the company gave a cautious full-year outlook and reported a drop in fourth-quarter earnings. The world's second-largest maker of tractors and combines after Deere & Co. (DE) paced the global market last year. It expects growth this year to be driven by an improving construction environment, mirroring recent outlooks from peers such as Caterpillar Inc. (CAT). Richard Tobin, chief executive, said it would be the end of the first quarter before there is better visibility into the impact of Europe's broader economic woes, though he expressed confidence that demand in China and Brazil would rebound. CNH, a unit of Italy's Fiat Industrial S.p.A. (FI.MI), expects revenue to grow about 5% this year compared with 2011, with farm equipment demand seen flat to up 5% and construction business up 15% to 20%. The stock, always volatile around the company's earnings reports, was recently down 11.2% at $42.29, with analysts expressing concern about potential market share losses and margins. The Illinois-based company reported a profit of $193 million, or 80 cents a share, down from $209 million, or 87 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding restructuring and other items, per-share earnings fell to 79 cents from 90 cents. Revenue rose 24% to $5.04 billion. -By Doug Cameron, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4135; doug.cameron@dowjones.com
