Bridgestone Profits Plummet in Australia

ridgestone Australia has reported a 72 per cent drop in annual net profit, and has warned of another tough year ahead of it. This bleak news comes only a month after parent company Bridgestone Corporation disclosed its intention to buy back the publicly listed Australian operation.

The company posted an AU$2.84 million (£1.14 million) profit for the year ended December 31, 2006, a significant decline from the previous year’s AU$10.3 million.

The profit was struck off sales revenue of AU$513.91 million, only 1.2 per cent lower than that of the previous financial year.

Bridgestone chairman and chief executive Makio Ohashi said the company’s lower sales were largely the result of reduced tyre sales to most local car manufacturers and higher raw material prices. The company’s directors are not recommending a dividend be paid to shareholders for 2006.

According to a timetable released by Bridgestone Australia in December, the company’s 39.7 per cent minority shareholding not already owned by Bridgestone Corporation will be purchased and cancelled by May.