Bridgestone Beats 1Q Expectations, Revises Projections
Bridgestone Corp. posted better than anticipated results for the first quarter, prompting the company to make an upward revision to its FY2010 financial projections. For the quarter, Bridgestone posted sales of 659 billion yen, up 16.1% year-over-year, while net income rose from a 34.9 million yen loss last year to a net gain of 17.6 million yen.
Continue ReadingGreek Crisis Market Jitters Led to Giti IPO Postponement
Giti Tire’s decision to postpone its Hong Kong initial public offering, was prompted by market jitters following on from the Greek debt crisis, news agency AFP has reported. Giti, the largest tyre manufacturer in China, decided to hold-off on its $500-million dollar offering on 4 May in what was its second attempt to get such an IPO off the ground. In addition to the macro-economic concerns that the Greek crisis is symptomatic of, in Hong Kong and China concerns also stem form Beijing’s perceived “appetite for bubble-bursting.”
Continue ReadingToyo Raises US Tyre Prices
Toyo Tire USA said it would again increase prices on its Toyo brand passenger, light truck/SUV, medium truck and OTR tyres, says Tire Review. The 1 June increase will be up to 8 per cent, with in-line adjustments. This is Toyo’s second price hike of the year, having taken increases of up to 7 per cent bump on medium truck tyres and up to 6 per cent on consumer tyres earlier this year.
Continue ReadingPirelli Confirms Real Estate Spin Off
The board of Pirelli & C. has confirmed what the market has been predicting for some time - the company has “resolved upon a plan for separation of Pirelli Real Estate” from the rest of the tyre dominated business. According to the company, such a separation will occur through the assignment of nearly all Pirelli RE shares held by Pirelli & C. to ordinary and savings shareholders of Pirelli & C., and, therefore, via voluntary reduction of the corporate capital of Pirelli & C. for “an amount equal to the value of the Pirelli RE stake being assigned.” Now shareholders have to approve the transaction by July in order for the actual separation, planned for the end of 2010, to take place.
Continue ReadingReports: Continental Considering Tyre Unit IPO
Continental AG is said to be considering an initial public offering for its tyre unit, according to German business publication Handelsblatt. Citing “unidentified people with knowledge of the plan”, the newspaper appeared to contradict earlier reports in a Business Week interview with the company’s chief financial officer Wolfgang Schaefer that said the company doesn’t need a stock sale until 2012. However, in that interview Schaefer reportedly said: the company’s last stock sale completed in January means it now has financing until 2012 covering its net debt of 8.2 billion euros, which wouldn’t rule out an IPO in time for then.
Continue ReadingCooper Posts Improvements in Q1
Tire Review reports Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. reported net income of $12 million for the quarter ended 31 March, a $33 million improvement from the same period in 2009. Net sales were $754 million, an increase of $183 million, or 32 per cent, from the prior year. Operating profit was $33 million for the quarter, a $49 million improvement compared with a loss of $16 million in 2009, the company said.
Continue ReadingContinental AG to Hold Off on Stock Sale Before 2012
Continental AG doesn’t need a stock sale before 2012 and there are no plans “in the short term” to resume talks with banks on rescheduling loans, according to chief financial officer Wolfgang Schaefer. According to a Business Week interview, the company’s last stock sale completed in January means it now has financing until 2012 covering its net debt of 8.2 billion euros. “We are not considering at all raising new capital next year. We expect to reach investment-grade status in 2012 and are therefore convinced that the current amount of equity capital is the right one,” Schaefer said.
Continue ReadingCooper Announces 153rd Consecutive Quarterly Dividend
As it has for fast-approaching 40 years, the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company announced a quarterly dividend payable June 30, 2010, to stockholders of record at the close of business June 2, 2010. The payout will be 10.5 cents per share on common stock. The payout will mark the 153rd consecutive quarterly dividend paid by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.
Continue ReadingRivals Michelin and Bridgestone Cooperate to Catch Spy
Marwan Arbache, a former Michelin executive, has been found guilty of trying to sell industrial secrets to the company’s main competitor Bridgestone. The court hearing in Clermont-Ferrand reportedly delayed sentencing until 21 June 2010. Arbache faces a maximum 10-year jail sentence and a heavy fine. The case came to trial after Bridgestone tipped off Clermont-Ferrand based Michelin that the company had received an email offering to sell them confidential tyre manufacturing information for about US$150,000 (£99,000; 115,000 euros). The email, sent in July 2007, signalled the beginning of an exchange that could have, said Michelin representatives, “delivered a serious blow to the company” if he had succeeded. Further details of the allegations involved in the case were uncovered in what the companies reportedly called "Operation Fukuda" – a sting operation which saw officials posing as Japanese clients.
Continue ReadingPirelli Examining Real Estate Spin-Off
Pirelli & C. SpA confirmed yesterday (3 May 2010) that its board of directors is meeting today “to examine, among other things, the transaction for separation of Pirelli Real Estate from the Pirelli Group.” According to various sources, the timing of the meeting (a day before the company’s first quarter 2010 results presentation) suggests that the company is likely to announce a spin-off of the real estate business tomorrow 5 May. Deutsche Bank analysts estimate that the move is worth 0.04 euros a share or 8.5 per cent of market capitalisation.
Continue ReadingMichelin Looks to Increasing Sales, Expects Demand Increase
Michelin has released its first quarter financial report with the figure of 3.9 billion euros in net sales (representing an increase of 12.2 per cent) riding high on its statement. The manufacturer has seen a decent return to favourable comparatives a year after the depth of the financial crisis dominated most balance sheets, though European original equipment truck sales were a notable exception, down 1.2 per cent (including figures for Russia and Turkey. In comparison, year-on-year change in the segment in all other regions was up, most spectacularly in South America (up 56.9 per cent) and Asia (up 24.2 per cent). The European passenger car and light truck OE segment was much stronger, with 30.2 per cent rises in net sales.
Continue ReadingNexen’s Q1 Earnings Jump 43%
Nexen Tire Corp.’s first quarter earnings jumped 43 per cent from a year earlier on the back of increased prices, reports Tire Review. Net profit reached 25 billion won (US$22.4 million) in the January-March period, compared with a profit of 17 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales increased 8.6 per cent to 249 billion won over the cited period, while operating income fell 5.1 per cent to 32.4 billion won, it said.
Continue ReadingJapan’s Tyre-makers Stock Gains on Increased Citi Growth Forecast
Shares in Japan’s three largest tyre manufacturers (Bridgestone, Yokohama and Sumitomo) have risen in Tokyo trading this morning, following recommendations made by Citigroup. Bloomberg reports that the gains were made following a report by Citi’s analysts suggesting 2010’s global demand growth in tyres would be 8.2 per cent, as opposed to the previously quoted 5.5 per cent.
Continue ReadingForbes Ranks Goodyear 40th “Most Reputable” US Company
Forbes Magazine has published its fifth annual list of the companies with the best reputation in the USA, with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company ranked 40th. Goodyear says the list is based on the Reputation Institute’s US Reputation Pulse consumer opinion survey, which aims to measure the overall respect, trust, esteem, admiration and good feelings consumers hold toward the country’s 150 largest companies.
Continue ReadingKumho’s Creditors Fund $1.08 Billion Capital Injection
The Korea Development Bank has led a band of Kumho creditors in signing a 1.2 trillion won ($1.08 billion) agreement; half in a debt-for-equity swap and half in new capital. Ahn Yang-soo, senior director of KDB and the executive in charge of Kumho’s debt, told the Korea Times: “Creditors agreed to assist Kumho. We will switch company debts into stocks. We also will give additional capital to help the company manage its businesses. We think the rescue plan will provide Kumho the momentum to turn its business around.’’
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