Tom Linebarger
Chairman and CEO at Cummins
Thank you, Chris and good morning. I'll start with a summary of our first quarter financial results, then I'll discuss our sales and end market trends by region and I'll finish with a discussion of our outlook for 2022. Mark will then take you through more details of both our first quarter financial performance and our forecast for the year. Before getting into the detail on our performance, I want to take a moment to highlight a few major events from the first quarter. The company announced two significant acquisitions; to expand our product portfolio and are critical to advancing our decarbonization goals. The acquisition of Jacobs Vehicle Systems and the definitive agreement to acquire Meritor. Jacobs Vehicle Systems is a supplier of engine braking, cylinder deactivation, start-stop control and thermal management technologies, which are key components to meet in current and future emissions regulations. The integration of Meritor, a global leader of drivetrain, mobility, breaking and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets will position Cummins as one of the few companies able to provide integrated powertrain solutions across the full range of power technologies, including combustion engines, battery electric and fuel cell electric systems.
In February, Cummins also unveiled the industry's first unified fuel agnostic internal combustion powertrain platforms. This technology approach to our new engines will be applied across Cummins X-Series, L-Series and B-Series product platforms and will help fleets reduce carbon emissions today by enabling vehicles to run on low to zero carbon fuels. The platforms will utilize the leading engine technology the customers are familiar with and have a high level of parts commonality across fuel types to reduce cost and complexity. Also, Florida Power & Light Company, a division of NextEra announced Cummins will supply a 25-megawatt electrolyzer system for the groundbreaking FPL Cavendish NextGen Hydrogen Hub. The Hydrogen Hub will be Florida's first of its kind "green" hydrogen plant and will use solar energy to power the electrolysis process. Once built, this will be the largest PEM electrolyzer installation in North America.
These acquisitions, product development announcements and project wins are all part of our Destination Zero strategy to evolve our company, our products and our customers' products to the technologies needed for a decarbonized world. The strategy which we reviewed with you at Analyst Day includes reducing carbon emissions now by making improvements in the technologies we know today, while rapidly advancing the zero emissions technologies of the future.
Another important development during the first quarter was the company's decision to indefinitely suspend our operations in Russia as a conflict in Ukraine persist with no peaceful resolution site. We are continuing to evaluate the best way to support our employees during this difficult time in accordance with local laws and regulations. We are also actively working with community organizations, especially in Romania and Poland to determine how we can assist refugees as they arrive.
Now I will comment on the overall performance for the first quarter of 2022 and cover some of our key markets starting with North America before moving on to our largest international markets. Demand for our products remain strong across all of our key markets and regions with the notable exception of China resulting in record revenues for the first quarter of 2022. Revenues for the first quarter were $6.4 billion, an increase of 5% compared to the first quarter of last year. EBITDA was $755 million or 11.8% compared to $980 million or 16.1% a year ago. First quarter results include costs of $158 million related to the suspension of operations in Russia and $17 million related to preparations for the separation of Filtration business, which we have discussed in previous calls. The costs incurred relating to the indebtedness suspension of operations Russia include inventory write downs, reserves on accounts receivable, the impairment of a joint venture investment and other costs. My comments moving forward will exclude the one-time financial impact of the suspension of our Russian operations.
EBITDA percentage decline in the first quarter as joint venture income drop from a record high in the first quarter of last year, driven primarily by the slowdown in China markets. Research and development expenses also increased in the first quarter of 2022 as we continue to invest in the products and technologies that will create advantage in the future, particularly in the Engine and New Power segments. Gross margin percentage improved compared to the first quarter of last year. As the benefit of pricing, we implemented at the beginning of this year, exceeded the manufacturing, logistics and material cost increases during the quarter. This pricing only partially offset the impact of elevated supply chain and other inflationary costs that we carried through from 2021. Our first quarter revenues in North America grew 12% to $3.7 billion, driven by improved pricing and higher aftermarket demand. Industry production of heavy-duty trucks in the first quarter was 65,000 units, up 8% from 2021 levels. While our heavy-duty unit sales were 23,000 flat with 2021. Industry production of medium-duty trucks was 29,000 units in the first quarter of 2022, a decrease of 9% from 2021 levels. While our unit sales were 26,000, down 3% from 2021.
We shipped 42,000 engines just to Atlantic for their use in RAM pickups in the first quarter of 2022, flat with last year. Engine sales to construction customers in North America increased by 60% as non-residential construction spending rose and rental companies increased capital spending. Revenues for North America Power Generation declined by 3% as supply chain constraints limited our production for both US military and mobile power applications. Our international revenues decreased by 3% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to a year ago. First quarter revenues in China, including joint ventures were $1.5 billion, a decrease of 31% due to lower sales and on-highway and construction markets. Industry demand for medium- and heavy-duty trucks in China was 264,000 units, a decrease of 55% from last year. Last year's numbers were unusually strong, supported by a pre-buy ahead of NS VI but weaker new vehicle demand and economic impacts from shutdowns as the country responded to a COVID-19 resurgence have pushed the market below normal levels.
Our sales in units, including joint ventures were 35,000, a decrease of 62%. The light-duty market in China decreased 20% from 2021 levels to 468,000 units, while our units sold, including joint ventures, were 34,000 units, a decrease of 24%. Industry demand for excavators in the first quarter was 77,000 units, a decrease of 39% from record 2021 levels. The decrease was driven by decline in demand within the property market and the COVID-19 impact on infrastructure. Our units sold with 13,000, a decrease of 41%. Sales of power generation equipment increased 58% in the first quarter, primarily driven by datacenter customers.
First quarter revenues in India, including joint ventures were $621 million, an increase of 8% from the first quarter a year ago. Industry truck demand increased by 18%, while our shipments increased by 16%. Demand for power generation and construction equipment also increased in the first quarter as economic activity continue to improve. In Brazil, our revenues increased 10% driven by improved demand in most end markets.
Now let me provide our outlook for 2022 including some comments on individual regions and end markets. We have raised our forecast for total Company revenues for 2022 to be up 8% compared to our prior guidance of up 6%. This guidance reflects, this guidance reflects a stronger outlook in North America and a weaker outlook in China, as well as the indefinite suspension of our operations in Russia. We are forecasting higher demand in global oil and gas and power generation markets and expect aftermarket revenues to increase compared with last year. We are maintaining our forecast for heavy-duty trucks in North America to be 250,000 to 260,000 units in 2022, a 10% to 15% increase year-over-year. The supply chain constraints our industry is experiencing continue limit supply relative to strong end user demand. In the North America medium-duty truck market, we are continuing to project the market size to be 120,000 to 130,000 units of 5% to 10% increase from 2021. Consistent with our guidance, our engine shipments for pickup trucks in North America are expected to be down 5% compared to 2021. In China, we project total revenue including joint ventures to decrease 10% in 2022. We now project a 40% reduction in heavy- and medium-duty truck demand and 12% reduction in demand in the light-duty truck market compared to a 30% decline and a 5% reduction respectively in our previous guidance. Industry sales of excavators in China are expected to decline 30% from record levels in 2021 consistent with our prior guidance. Despite the projected decline in China and current economic uncertainty, we remain well positioned for continued outgrowth across our end markets in this region.
Industry volumes of NS VI product will increase this year as the new regulations are implemented more broadly. Our experience in meeting similar standards in the United States and Europe has prepared us to meet these standards, allowing us to offer strong support to our partners through the transition. We continue to ramp production and expand our presence in automated manual transmissions and build momentum in the new power space through partnerships and in-country capabilities to establish a leadership position in that developing market.
In India, we project total revenue including joint ventures to increase 10% in 2022, in line with our previous guidance. We expect industry demand for trucks to increase 20% this year. We continue to project most major global high horsepower markets will improve in 2022. Sales of mining engines are expected to be flat this year compared to the prior year, a decrease in our prior guidance of up 10%. Demand driven by continued strength in commodity prices is now being offset with the volume decline from our suspension of operations in Russia. Demand for new oil and gas engines is expected to increase by 95% in 2022, albeit off a low base. Our previous guidance for oil and gas engines was an increase of 25%. Fortunately, we were able to reallocate a significant number of our build slots from planned mining sales in to Russia to meet increased demand in the US oil and gas market. Revenues in global power generation markets are expect to increased 5% driven by increases in non-residential -- non-residential construction, consistent with our prior guidance.
We are now projecting aftermarket sales to increase 15% from 2021, up from our previous estimate is up 10%. This is driven by parts demand within our North American on-highway business as well as global power systems market. In New Power, we continue to expect full-year sales to be approximately $200 million. We have a growing pipeline of electrolyzers which we expect to convert to backlog and we deliver over the course of the next 12 to 18 months. In the first quarter, new order intake for electrolyzers with the strongest we have seen to date contributing to an already healthy backlog. We will continue to accelerate our collaboration with OEMs on both electrified power and fuel cell power for applications in 2022. As a recent example, we are partnering with Scania, a world leader of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications to deliver 20 fuel cell electric trucks by next -- end of next year demonstrating hydrogen viability as an alternative power due to its energy density and flexible use.
In summary, we are increasing our revenue outlook for the year with year-over-year growth expected in most major regions except China. We are maintaining our full-year of 2022 EBITDA guidance of approximately 15.5%, excluding the impacts of an index of our indefinite suspension of operations in Russia and the costs associated with preparing for the expected separation of our filtration business. We expect to deliver this strong profitability, despite the supply chain constraints and rising inflationary costs that we are experiencing. During the quarter, we returned $518 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, consistent with our plan to return approximately 50% of operating cash flow to shareholders for the year. Strong execution resulted in record sales in the first quarter, despite the very difficult operating environment, the ongoing supply chain constraints through the industry, the continued COVID-19 related impacts and the effect of the compete [Phonetic] in Ukraine, all present challenges to operating our business normally.
I am humbled by the commitment and resilience of our employees and leaders around the world who are navigating through these difficulties, delivering for our customers and generating strong financial performance at the same time. Cummins has never been in a stronger position, allowing us to invest in the products and technologies that will fund future growth, drive advantage for our customers and help decarbonize our industry. And we will accomplish this while generating strong financial results and return cash to shareholders.
Now, let me turn it over to Mark.