Bridgestone FY2020: First net loss in 7 decades

The corona crisis has left its mark on Bridgestone Corporation, with the Japanese firm reporting for the 2020 fiscal year its first net loss in 69 years, a loss of 23.3 billion yen (£159.2 million). The operating result also fell significantly: While revenue decreased 14.6 per cent to 3.0 trillion yen (£20.5 billion), adjusted operating profit plummeted 35.0 per cent to 222.9 billion yen (£1.5 billion), representing a 7.4 per cent return on sales.

While Bridgestone remained in the black in three of its four reporting regions, business in the EMIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) region made an operating loss of 17.6 billion yen (£120.3 million).

2021 forecast

In regards to the current year, Bridgestone Corporation says it operating environment “will continue to require careful attention due to various uncertain factors.” For the 2021 fiscal year, the company anticipates revenue of 3.0 trillion yen (£20.6 billion), adjusted operating profit of 260.0 billion yen (£1.8 billion) and 261.0 billion yen in profit attributable to owners of parent. When factoring in Bridgestone’s divestment of Firestone Building Products Company LLC, the company anticipates profit attributable to owners of parent in the vicinity of 150 billion yen (£1.0 billion).

Detailed information about Bridgestone Corporation’s FY2020 results is available here.