Bridgestone Announces 32.5 per cent Profit Increase

Bridgestone Corp has announced a 32.5 per cent increase in profits, resulting from increased sales volumes and prices increases. While the company appears to have offset the effects of higher raw material costs, Bridgestone executives have left the business’ annual outlook unchanged.

Some analysts expect Bridgestone to post 220 billion yen in operating profit this year ending December, up 11 per cent on last year’s performance. According to Reuters, Bridgestone’s operating profit in July-September totalled 61.40 billion yen Strong sales of truck and bus tyres after price hikes helped boost profit in the crucial U.S. market, while a weaker yen and a better product mix also helped, a Bridgestone spokesman said.

Bridgestone kept its full-year operating profit outlook of 198 billion yen, below an average estimate of 208 billion yen in a survey of 13 brokerages by Reuters Estimates, ahead of the high-demand season for highly profitable studless winter tyres in October-December in Japan.