Stapleton's MD Murai now in charge at Kwik Fit
Kwik Fit Group has announced the arrival of Stapleton's boss Kenji Murai. Itochu, which owns Stapleton's, completed its acquisition of the fast fit giant this week. Itochu also announced the departure of chief executive officer Ian Fraser and group finance director Michael Healy. Itochu stated: “We would like to thank Ian and Michael for their work in establishing Kwik Fit as the clear market leader and creating a very strong position. The company has substantially developed under their leadership and we wish them well for the future.
Continue ReadingInfinity Tyres sponsors England cricket at Lord’s
Infinity Tyres has announced that it is to sponsor the Lord’s One Day International between England and Sri Lanka in London on 3 July. The game is the third in the five-match ODI series following a crushing victory for England in the first at The Oval and tomorrow’s game (1 July) at Headingley. The brand will have a static publicity panel at the ground.
Continue ReadingGoodyear to webcast Deutsche Bank presentation
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company will broadcast its Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Global Industrials and Basic Materials Conference on its investor relations website. The conference takes place in Chicago on Thursday, 16 June, where Darren R Wells, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the company’s strategies and field questions from analysts and investors.
Continue ReadingAnalysts: 1 in 9 firms in the UK tyre market could change hands
Nearly 10 per cent of UK tyre firms could change hands due to the disparity between cash-rich and debt-stricken firms in the market. According to analysts from Plimsoll Publishing, 1 in 9 companies in the UK Tyre Manufacturers & Distributors industry could change ownership as a result of the current economic climate. Their prediction is that, with a surprising number of “cash rich” competitors waiting in the wings, the market could be set for a prolonged period of consolidation.
Continue ReadingGoodyear declares preferred stock dividend
Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today declared a quarterly dividend of 74.25 cents per share of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The dividend is payable 1 July, 2011, to shareholders of record on June 15, 2011. The payout represents an annual rate of $2.9375 per share.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Redeems $350 Million in Senior Notes
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced that it has completed its previously announced redemption of $350 million in senior notes due 2016. A statement from the company continues: “Following its successful mandatory convertible preferred stock offering in March, Goodyear exercised its right to redeem $350 million in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 10.500% senior notes due 2016. The redemption price was 110.5 per cent of the principal amount of the notes redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, May 27, 2011. The redemption will result in savings to annualized interest expense of approximately $40 million, of which about $23 million will be realized in 2011.”
Continue ReadingConti supports football, wary of things that ‘negatively affect World Cup’
While Fifa president Sep Blatter looks likely to have steered himself to a fourth term at the helm of the good ship football, there is growing disquiet amongst world football key sponsors following allegations of corruption in the association’s World Cup and even presidential selection processes. Despite Blatter’s claims that “I am the captain of this ship and we are weathering the storm” one by one the leading sponsors have been voicing their own views. With this in mind Tyres & Accessories asked World Cup 2014 sponsor Continental for its take on the situation. The answer came in the form of an intricately worded statement that came out in clear support of football and the kind of sponsorship support the tyre and automotive manufacturer has invested heavily in up till now, but also hinted at the firm’s unhappiness with the current controversy. While Conti highlighted the fact that is has been “supporting professional soccer for more than 15 years with passion and engagement” the manufacturer also said it “cannot approve of anything that negatively affects the reputation of professional soccer, the World Cup 2014 or the characteristics of this sport.”
Continue ReadingLassa Tyres signs Bolton Wanderers partnership
Turkey-based manufacturer Lassa Tyres has finalised a partnership agreement with Barclays Premier League football team Bolton Wanderers for next season. Turkey’s Brisa Bridgestone Sabanci, which manufactures Lassa tyres is the country’s number one tyre producer, and the seventh largest in Europe. The company said Bolton’s position as a successful and established member of the top tier of English football – next season will be the eleventh consecutive year that the club will compete in the Premier League – was a major attraction for the brand. The partnership was brokered by London based Samson Sport Consultancy, who have also secured contracts for Lassa Tyres in their other key markets.
Continue ReadingMichelin adds material saving technology to fuel saving emphasis at Challenge Bibendum
Governments have G8 summits, economists have the World Economic Forum in Davos – for those with an interest in mobility development there's Challenge Bibendum. The 11th Michelin-sponsored forum has grown from an opportunity to present wonderfully creative ideas to the point that the technology on-show at this year's event (held in Berlin for the second time, from 18 – 22 May) are closer than ever to the production technology of tomorrow. True, some of the wackier concepts like free-mind and thought assisted driving that could be seen may still be some way off, and there were a number of prototypes that are more illustration that innovation, but the majority of technology demonstrated at Michelin's window on the roads of future is either 2 – 3 or 5 – 7 years from actually hitting the market.
Continue ReadingAnalysts: Bullish Pirelli meets expectations
During a recent roadshow with financial analysts Pirelli & C Spa chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera told the market watchers that the tyre industry is benefitting from an unprecedented combination of favourable conditions. Morgan Stanley analysts agreed, explaining that the Italian tyremaker’s upbeat comments support the bank’s thesis and “overweight” rating: “Pirelli remains an attractive second derivative play on booming premium car demand, offering unmatched premium tyre and emerging market exposure.”
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop names new German plant managers
A new plant manager has taken charge of Goodyear Dunlop’s factory in Philippsburg, Germany. As of May 1, Klaus Happ has taken over the role from Bruno Kihm, who is now plant manager of the company’s Riesa passenger car tyre factory in the country’s east. Kihm in turn has replaced Dr. Christian Paech, who retired on May 1 after a career with the tyre maker spanning 33 years.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres reports 9% annual net sales growth, profits down a third
Apollo Tyres Ltd has approved the company’s audited financial results for the fourth quarter (January to March) and the financial year 2010 - 2011. Consolidated annual revenues, taking into account manufacturing bases in India, South Africa and the Netherlands, grew 9 per cent to reach net sales of 88.6 billion rupees (£1.205 billion; 1.386 billion euros; US$1.983 billion). Net profit fell to 4.4 billion rupees from 6.5 billion rupees the previous year.
Continue ReadingRichard Lyons new GITI Tire Europe head, plus new European structure
GITI Tire has appointed Richard Lyons as general manager as part of a series of moves that sees the firm implement a new organisational structure for its European operations. The new structure, which took effect 1 May 2011, has been established following the departure of Michael Andre in March. Andre previously held the role of marketing director for passenger car tyres Europe and was managing director of the company’s Giti Tire Germany GmbH German subsidiary. Hervé Richert, GITI’s executive director, international sales and marketing described the new-look team a “direct consequence of GITI Tire Europe’s growth of business over recent years.” Writing in a statement detailing the reshuffle, he explained that it also follows the company’s “clearly defined strategy of building on strong relationships with its partners and customers with a focus on key markets in Europe and emerging markets” such as CIS and Russia:
Continue ReadingAnalysts raise Hankook price target
Financial analysts have raised their share price target for Hankook stock following the publication of the Korean-based manufacturer’s first quarter results. Writing in an investor’s note published on 21 April, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote: “We are raising our price target for Hankook Tire to 38,000 won and maintaining our equal-weight rating.” The analysts wrote that their change in price target is “predominately driven by our revised earnings forecasts, as well as adjusted share count.”
Continue ReadingAnalysts praise Goodyear results
Goodyear's first quarter 2011 results were “significantly above expectations” according to investor information published by Goldman Sachs. In addition to stating that the results were above their estimates, the analysts said Goodyear’s figures came in ahead of the wider consensus, “driven largely by a $361million tailwind from pricing and mix” which was way above the $278 million projection. According to Goldman Sachs, this increase is impressive because it exceeds the $300 million per quarter the market was typically able to absorb in periods of high inflation.
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