Caterpillar, the US construction and mining equipment maker, on Wednesday reported higher first-quarter sales and revenues, driven by healthy demand for the company's gear and services.

However, the company, a Dow member and bellwether for the global economy, faces declining market share in China as competitors lower their prices, a top executive told Bloomberg.

Sales rose five percent year-on-year to $13.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019, with per-share profits rising to a record $3.25, up from $2.74 last year.

Quarterly profits were boosted by $178 million tax benefit that helped offset restructuring costs. The company also spent $1.2 billion on share buybacks and dividends in the quarter.

After adjustments, earnings per share came to $2.94, better than the $2.86 analysts had been expecting.

The company left its 2019 performance outlook unchanged but due to the first-quarter "discrete tax benefit" it raised its forecast for profits per share before adjustments to a range of $12.06 to $13.06 for the full year, up from the previous $11.75 to $12.75.

The tax benefit was tied to final regulations recently issued by the US Treasury, the company said in a statement.

Following the announcement, Caterpillar shed pre-market share price gains on Wall Street, putting the company down 2.59 percent toward 1450 GMT.

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Bonfield told Bloomberg in an interview that in China the company would "lose a little bit of market share" for 2019 due to "aggressive pricing" by competitors.

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