SRI profits down 16.7% in Jan-Mar quarter

Consolidated quarterly figures for Sumitomo Rubber Industries show the Japanese manufacturer to have earned 145,072 million yen (£1.1 billion) in net sales during the three months to March 31, 2011, a year-on-year increase of 8.2 per cent. Tyre sales accounted for 85.7 per cent per cent of this total, or 124,316 million yen (£942.5 million), a rise of 11.4 per cent compared with the corresponding quarter of 2010. Yet although sales were up during the quarter, operating income was down 0.6 per cent to 9,711 million yen (£73.6 million) and net income decreased 16.7 per cent to 4,242 million yen (£32.2 million). Operating income for the company’s tyre business was 8,465 million yen (£64.2 million) a year-on-year increase of 17.4 per cent.