JK Tyre Announces 2-4% Price Hike
Indian manufacturer, JK Tyre has decided to raise its prices by between two and four per cent on the back of raw materials prices going “up to an all time high, touching Rs 210 or even Rs 220 per kg of natural rubber,” the company’s marketing director AS Mehta told newspaper The Economic Times.
Continue ReadingDelticom Results Very Strong, But Not Unexpected – Analysts
In response to Delticom’s record full-year 2010 figures, financial analysts have commented on the “very strong preliminary full-year figures.” Prior to the release of the preliminary numbers, which Tyres & Accessories published online at tyrepress.com on 17 January, the company predicted it would achieve 30 per cent growth and a pre-tax profit margin (EBIT) of 11 per cent. However financial analysts at Deutsche Bank had predicted that the company would outperform these already strong figures.
Continue ReadingAvon Tyres Reaches Motorcycle Centenary
Avon Tyres is celebrating the centenary of its commencement of motorcycle tyre production in 2011. The Avon association with tyre production goes back to 1885, when a former cloth mill in Melksham, Wiltshire was turned into a rubber goods factory. By the turn of the century the company was diversifying, producing more rubber products and by 1911 Avon produced their first motorcycle tyre. It is now the only UK-based manufacturer of road-going motorcycle tyres.
Continue ReadingReport Points to “Remarkable Growth in Tyre Markets”
In an analysts report published at the end of last year (17 December) financial analysts surveying the market on behalf of Morgan Stanley found that replacement light vehicle tyre markets were very strong in Europe and North America and grew by 15 per cent and 6 per cent respectively in November last year. The figures were based on research conducted by Michelin, which was published the same day.
Continue ReadingAnalysts: UK Tyre Industry Will be Fragmented in 2011
New research by analysts at Plimsoll suggests the UK tyre market is polarised between “those getting it right and those struggling to recover.” David Pattison, senior analyst and author of the 2011 Plimsoll Analysis explained: “Now that the storm is lifting we have been able to assess the damage left behind. 38 companies are in parlous state and starting the New Year clinging on for dear life. We have rated them as Danger accordingly. Falling demand was the final nail in the coffin for many. The mistake they made though was to not make those painful cuts early enough to protect their business”.
Continue ReadingToyo Completes Malaysian Tyre Manufacturer Acquisition
Toyo Tire & Rubber has announced that it has completed its acquisition of the Malaysian manufacturer Silverstone Berhad. Tyrepress.com reported initial talk of the acquisition back in October (follow the link at the bottom of this story for full details). Toyo has acquired all of Silverstone Berhad’s 203,877,500 shares. Toyo said the acquisition will “have a negligible effect on the company’s consolidated and non-consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011 (FY2010).” Silverstone Berhad has 203,877,000 Ringgit (₤41.1 thousand paid in capital).
Continue ReadingPirelli Arranges 1.2 billion euros Credit Line
Today (30 November) Pirelli signed off on a new revolving line of credit, which provides the company with 1.2 billion euros over a duration of five years. According to the company, the new facility will replace existing lines of credit worth a total of 1.475 billion euros, launched in 2005 and 2007 with maturities in 2011 and 2012. These therefore will be cancelled in advance. An official statement on the matter explained that the new 2015 maturity is aligned to the timing of Pirelli’s recently presented industrial plan.
Continue ReadingApollo Aiming for 'At Least' The Top 10
If you were playing a word association game with a tyre executive and said “emerging markets” the chances are they would say “China.” However, while China is top of the tree when it comes to tyre production in the so-called emerging markets – and indeed the world – the recent investments of global players (such as Bridgestone and Michelin) in India, coupled with the rapid growth of the market’s domestic producers should make you sit up and take notice of what is happening in the sub-continent. While most of the world, perhaps excluding China, was languishing under the shadow of the recent recession, India’s economy is positively booming with gross domestic product (GDP) currently growing at between 8 and 9 per cent in a global economic scenario that sees some of the world’s so-called superpowers pleased to report growth of anything more than zero and avoid the dreaded double dip. What separates India from the only other economy in the world that operates on this scale (China), is the fact that it is simultaneously growing fast, home to roughly a billion people and is also as much consumer as much as an exporter. And what’s more the very words that Apollo Tyres chairman Onkar S Kanwar and vice-chairman Neeraj Kanwar both use to describe their own staff, can also be used to optimistically sum up the population – “young, dynamic and innovative.” Tyres & Accessories recently travelled to India to learn more about arguably the most globalised – certainly the most Europeanised – Indian tyre manufacturer, Apollo Tyres. During our whistle-stop tour of the company’s executive, R&D and production operations across India, the company demonstrated that it is moving towards its goal of becoming a global player and entering the top 10 within the next five years at a rate of knots with the news that it has joined the list of globally approved suppliers to German car marque Volkswagen. Apollo also revealed how it recently launched giant OTR tyre production at its Limda factory, truck and car radial production at its modern Chennai Greenfield plant and gave details of the construction of a new R&T (research and technology) centre at the Chennai site.
Continue ReadingHankook Stock Falls 2% After Rating Cut
Despite earlier positive news about the second phase of production at the company’s Hungary plant reaching the production readiness ahead of schedule, Bloomberg reports that Hankook Tire Co. shares dropped 2 per cent to 29,100 won during trading on 17 November 2010.
Continue ReadingAnalysts: Winter Tyres; Price Increases to Support Sumitomo Profitability
Following the publication of Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ nine-month 2010 results, financial analysts have observed that the firm was “hit by higher raw material prices,” which are said to have “shaved off” billions of yen of profitability. Nevertheless the company maintained its full-year earnings advice. Deutsche Bank analysts said they expect the company to outperform in the fourth quarter of this year off the back of winter tyre sales: “The key point is whether price rises/better product mix/higher volumes can offset the impact of raw materials prices, including natural rubber and yen/baht appreciation.”
Continue ReadingSumitomo And Ruia Group In JV – Report
According to the Calcutta Telegraph, the Calcutta-based Ruia Group and Japanese tyre manufacturer Sumitomo are engaged in talks concerning the construction of a radial tyre factory in India. It is reported that the joint venture would cost around 500 crore rupees (US$113 million) and would either be a 50/50 project or with Sumitomo taking a majority holding.
Continue ReadingPirelli Triples 9-month 2010 Net Income to 164.1 million euros
Pirelli & C Spa reports that it tripled net income to 164.1 million euros during the first three quarters of 2010 from 50 million euros in the first nine months 2009. At the consolidated level, revenues to 30 September 2010 totalled 3,703.4 million euros, an increase of 18.9 per cent compared with 3,114.7 million euros in the first nine months of 2009. EBIT to 30 September 2010 including restructuring charges of 12.4 million euros (28.1 million 30 September 2009) was 309.6 million euros, an increase of 69.7 per cent from 182.4 million euros in the same period of 2009. The margin as a percentage of revenues (8.4 per cent) shows a significant improvement from the 5.9 per cent recorded in the first nine months of 2009. In the third quarter, in particular, the operating result (EBIT) including restructuring charges was 116.2 million euros, growing 82.7 per cent from 63.6 million euros in the third quarter of 2009, with the margin as a percentage of revenues rising to 9.1 per cent from 5.8 per cent.
Continue ReadingMichelin Introduces Audio Brand
Michelin has developed a new “sound logo” as an integral part of its corporate identity. Designed in collaboration with Sixième Son, the 32-second sequence of musical notes is designed to support the brand’s “image, message and baseline.” It will now be deployed across all media platforms (television, radio, telephone hold systems, advertising campaigns and trade fair stands). The audio brand was unveiling in parallel with the 2010 Paris Motor Show as part of a project begun in 1998 to enhance the Michelin brand and its identity.
Continue ReadingConti Predicts 25 billion euro Sales; 9% EBIT in FY10
The Continental Corporation is predicting it will achieve sales of more than 25 billion euros and an adjusted pre-tax profit margin (EBIT) of 9 per cent when it publishes full year financial results for 2010. The margin target had previously been 8 – 8.5 per cent. Continental released the projections in parallel with its third quarter results which show that the automotive supplier posted sales of 19.1 billion euros and an adjusted EBIT of 1.79 billion euros after three quarters, exceeding the pre-crisis level of the first three quarters of 2008. At 9.4 per cent, the nine-month adjusted EBIT margin also exceeded the comparable 2008 level.
Continue ReadingTotal Profits Slightly Down, but Relatively Good NA Quarter for Cooper
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported a 3.6 per cent reduction in operating profit, making $67.1 million, though there was a 10 per cent rise in total company sales for the third quarter (ending 30 September) of 2010 in year-on-year comparisons. Net income attributable to Cooper Tire reached $45 million, a decrease of $2 million from the same period in 2009. Net sales were $883 million, an increase of $80 million from the prior year. The Company reported net income of 71 cents per share on a diluted basis.
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