Deutsche Bank revises Bridgestone outlook

Deutsche Bank Equity Research Automotive has adjusted its 2013 and 2014 earnings outlook for Bridgestone Corporation. In a company update published on 18 November, analyst Kurt Sanger wrote that overall, Bridgestone’s strong third quarter performance highlighted the company’s “operational excellence through cost controls.”

Based on assumptions of stronger cost control, Deutsche Bank has upwardly revised its earnings expectations for this year and 2014; its full-year 2013 operating profit outlook has been raised 7.7 per cent to ¥450 billion, while projected operating profit for full-year 2014 is now ¥470 billion. “We have revised up our earnings expectations for this year and next on stronger cost control assumptions, but within this we have taken down volume and pricing incrementally,” wrote Sanger.

The Deutsche Bank analyst added that “together with weaker specialty tyre we think the market is taking a cautious stance on near-term margin upside outside of forex movements”; target price per share is thus being tweaked from ¥3,800 to ¥3,900.