Stamford Tyres First Half 2006 Net Profit up 114 per cent

Singapore’s Stamford Tyres has published first half 2006 results which show the company is ahead of schedule as far as net profits are concerned. In the six month period ended 31 October the company recorded a 114.3 per cent rise in net profits to S$6.5 million.

In the same period interim revenue increased 32.2 per cent from S$90.5 million to S$119.7 million. According to the company this was down to “organic growth from major brands –Falken, Dunlop, Continental and Toyo OTR,” sales contribution from the company’s Sumo and Firenza tyre programmes and contributions from the optimisation of two production lines at its SSW wheel plant. Increased demand in Malaysia and Thailand was also said to have helped.

The regional distribution of Stamford’s sales remained pretty much static with a little over three quarters (76.5 per cent) coming from
Southeast Asia, 14.6 per cent from North Asia and 8.9 per cent from “others.”

The growth of Singapore’s biggest tyre and rim distributor and retailer also saw the company make some key appointments.

During the course of the half-year 2006 period, Stamford appointed Patrick James Berriman as senior vice president, sales and marketing, Singapore; and Jim Paul Seidel as vice president, chief operating officer of Stamford Tires & Wheels, Inc – USA.

Patrick Berriman joins Stamford Tyres’ senior management team from South Pacific Tyres, where he was general manager of supply chain for both Australia and New Zealand. He has over 20 years of experience in the global tyre and automotive industries. Jim Seidel was a former director of Continental Tire North America. He has spent most of his career with Bridgestone/Firestone where he worked with the commercial truck tyre division.

Stamford’s full year 2006 targets are to: Achieve double-digit revenue growth, maintain gross profit margin, focus on cost containment and improve its bottom line. The company says it plans to do this through the organic growth of its major brands, through value-added services in Southeast Asia and China and incremental sales of its proprietary brands on international markets.