Bridgestone OP down 8.7 per cent

Bridgestone Corp. has reported that first half operating profit fell 8.7 per cent to 84.11 billion yen (£382 million) on account of raw material costs. Net profit dropped 67.7 per cent to 32.82 billion yen (£146.6 million), partly due to a one-off pension-related gain of 80.8 billion yen in the year-earlier period.

Bridgestone’s Europe segment reported sales of 199.2 billion yen (£908 million), up 12 per cent compared with the first half of 2005. However, operating income in the segment dropped significantly, falling 25 per cent to 6.5 billion yen (£296.2 million).

Reporting the results, Bridgestone kept to its full-year targets and said that it expects operating profit to total 165 billion yen in the 12 months to December.