Finning hosts Investor Day, provides outlook

Jan. 4, 2010 – Finning International's senior management provided an update on business activities and reviewed the company's outlook for 2010 during a live webcast last month. The webcast and an archived audio file of management's remarks are in the investor relations section of www.finning.com.

"Our sense is the economy is bottoming," said Mike Waites, president and CEO of Finning. "We are seeing positive signs in mining in Canada and South America. We have a very strong company with a leaner cost structure. And we are driving further improvements in operations to take full advantage of growth going forward."

On a consolidated basis, 2010 revenues are forecast to be down slightly from 2009. The 2010 outlook is for lower new equipment sales, which are expected to be partially offset by a modest increase in product support revenues.

Business conditions are expected to improve later in 2010. Based on the current outlook, the company anticipates earnings in 2010 to be up modestly over 2009.

The company expects to generate in excess of $200 million of free cash flow in 2010 and to continue to strengthen its balance sheet. The net debt to total capital ratio is expected to decline to 35 – 40 percent by the end of 2010. The strong free cash flow and balance sheet will position the company well to take advantage of future opportunities.

Finning International Inc. is the world's largest Caterpillar equipment dealer. Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., the company operates in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom.
A pdf of Investor Day presentations – and the Investor Day webcast – can be found at www.finning.com/investors/investors.aspx.