Bridgestone 2003 Profit Up

Bridgestone Corp. has declared its 2003 full-year profit rose 95.5 per cent but forecast a decline in 2004 as the strong yen, higher rubber costs and a fire-induced output cut threaten its bottom line.

Group net profit for the year ended December 31 was 88.72 billion yen (829.1 million US dollars), compared with 45.

38 billion yen the year before. Recurring profit increased 13.1 percent to 167.

30 billion yen. The results were better than Bridgestone’s forecasts, which were revised down in September to account for the fallout from the fire at one of its major domestic plants. For this year, Bridgestone has forecast a recurring profit of 130 billion yen and net profit of 75 billion yen.