Bridgestone Reports 12% Sales Increase

The first three quarters of the 2010 fiscal year have been described by Bridgestone as a period “plagued by rising raw materials and materials prices and the appreciating Japanese yen.” Despite these hurdles, the tyre maker reports achieving a 12 per cent increase in net sales and 838 per cent rise in operating income during this time, having reached figures of 2,091.2 billion yen (£15.9 billion) and 113.4 billion yen (£861.5 million) respectively. Ordinary income for the nine months was 100.8 billion yen (£765.7 million) and net income 66.7 billion yen (£506.7 million), compared with an ordinary loss of 9.2 billion yen and net loss of 27.4 billion yen for the corresponding period a year earlier.

These results can be broken down regionally into Japanese market net sales of 815.2 billion yen (£6.2 billion), an increase of 18 per cent, plus an operating income of 33.0 billion yen (£250.7 million). Net sales in the Americas reached 921.9 billion yen (£7.0 billion), up nine per cent, while operating income jumped 69 per cent to 38.4 billion yen (£291.7 million). European sales totaled 282.4 billion yen (£2.1 billion), up seven per cent, with operating income at 4.8 billion yen. Net sales and operating income in other regions amounted to 449.8 billion and 35.1 billion yen respectively.

Tyre sales accounted for the majority of the Japanese firm’s earnings, with net sales reaching 1,730.6 billion yen (£13.1 billion). This represents a 12 per cent increase on last year. Bridgestone comments that unit sales of tyres increased in the key markets of Japan, Europe and North America on the back of a recovery in demand, with replacement market run-flats, winter and UHP tyres proving to be particularly strong sellers in Europe. Sales of large and ultra-large OTR radials for construction and mining vehicles also “significantly exceeded” those of the first three quarters of 2009.