Deere (DE) announced worldwide net income of $422.1 million, or $1.88 per share, for the fourth quarter ended October 31, compared with $277.3 million, or $1.20 per share, for the same period last year.

Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 20 percent to $6.141 billion for the fourth quarter. Net sales of the worldwide equipment operations increased 21 percent for the quarter

Wall St. expected EPE of $1.55 on revenue of $5.8 billion.

Company equipment sales are projected to increase by about 12 percent for the full year and to be up approximately 25 percent for the first quarter of 2008. Deere’s net income is forecast to be about $2.1 billion for 2008 and about $325 million for the first quarter.

Shares were up about 2% in the pre-market

Douglas A. McIntyre