Cooper Earnings Exceed Expectations
The Cooper Tire & Rubber companys earnings per share for the first quarter of 2002 will be around 35 to 37 cents; significantly more than the previous estimate of 30 cents. This is due to an increase in market share and increased light vehicle production in North America. Full results will be published on April 18.
Continue ReadingRise In Turnover For Apollo Tyres
Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres has reported an increase in turnover of 17 per cent for the twelve months ended March 31st. Revenue was 17 billion Rupees (394.9 m Euro), compared with 15.54 bn Rupees (360.9 m Euro) for the previous twelve months. Apollos shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 7.27 per cent at the news.
Continue ReadingJudges Threatens Firestone Lawyers
A judge presiding over a Ford Explorer lawsuit, in which a student was left paralysed, has threatened lawyers acting for Firestone with a fine and a custodial sentence for deliberately causing a mistrial. The lawyers referred to the fact that the student bought a bag of marijuana before the accident, despite the fact that the judge had expressly forbidden any mention of the drug in case it prejudiced the jury. The judge has asked the lawyers to demonstrate why he should not fine them each $500 and impose six months in jail for knowingly violating a court order in an attempt to obtain a mistrial.
Continue ReadingConti: High Losses And No Dividend
Although Continental AG increased turnover in 2001 to 11.2 bn Euro (+11.1%), high losses of 257.6 million Euro have been announced. The reasons for the bad figures are restructuring costs (especially the closing of tyre factories), plus the business units Continental Tire North America (CTNA) and the Commercial Tyre Business are again in the red. The shareholders will not receive a dividend.
Continue ReadingYokohama acquires majority ownership of Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Company Ltd.
Yokohama Rubber Company Limited has taken majority possession of its Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Company Limited joint venture in Hangzhou, China. Just two weeks in advance of the ground-breaking for the ventures radial tire plant, scheduled for 22nd April, 2002.
Continue ReadingEmployee Shareholding Plan From Michelin
Michelin is offering 100,000 employees worldwide the chance to become preferential shareholders in the group. Employees will be able to purchase shares until the end of April with a discount and they will have usual shareholder rights, including access to financial information sent by Michelin to its employees. The object is to strengthen the relationship between the company and its employees and to give them a stake in the groups development.
Continue ReadingContinental Takes Over The Outstanding Shares Of Temic
Last year Continental bought 60 percent of DaimlerChryslers microelectronic subsidiary Temic for 398 million Euro. Now DaimlerChrysler pursued the option to sell the outstanding 40 percent to Continental for 215.3 million Euro. The German group has already renamed the new subsidiary as Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH which is under the leadership of Continentals board member Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart and is part of the business unit Continental Automotive Systems.
Continue ReadingGM OE Contract For Bridgestone
According to reports in the Japanese press, Bridgestone/Firestone has signed a contract with General Motors in the USA to supply tyres as original equipment. The report estimates that the Japanese manufacturer will supply GM with 2.5 million tyres annually for half a million cars and supply could begin this month.
Continue ReadingExpansion For South Pacific Tyres
South Pacific Tyres, the jv between Australias Pacific Dunlop and Goodyear of the USA, is set to increase production at its plant in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. Production at the plant is due to rise by 65 per cent over the next year, creating 140 new jobs. In unit terms, output will rise by one million tyres, to 2.4 million tyres a year. Production will go from 24 hours a day, five days a week, to 24 hours, seven days. 60 new sizes of tyre will be introduced into the factory, many coming from South Pacific factories in Australia.
Continue ReadingHalf Price Sale At Kwik-Fit
Ford Motor Company faces a 2 billion dollar write down on goodwill and intangible assets in the sale of its non-core business operations in the UK. The sale of Kwik-Fit, bought for 1.1 billion dollars in cash and 200 million dollars in loan notes in 1999, is likely to raise only 800 million dollars. Ford says it is now close to establishing a shortlist of final bidders, including UK private equity firms Cinven and CVC, and the London-based capital division of Deutsche Bank.
Continue ReadingChanges At Dezent Leichtmetallrader GmbH
Previous major shareholder and managing director Jurgen Keil is leaving the company at the end of April. The 32 per cent share in the company is divided between the two business partners Harald Schmidt and Günter Schmidt. Other changes include the fact that former managing directors Günter Schmidt and Nicole Brill will also leave the company, making Harald Schmidt sole managing director of Dezent. Keil will make himself available as a consultant in the area of research and development.
Continue ReadingCooper And Pirelli Restructure Alliance (Update)
Cooper Tire & Rubber and Pirelli have announced the restructuring of their three-year-old alliance in the US market. The object is to improve the competitive strength of both companies and both agree that, while the alliance had proved generally positive, a new approach would be beneficial in pursuing separate brand strategies. From July 1st, Pirelli will resume responsibility for sales and customer servicing of the Pirelli brand in the USA, while Cooper will continue to manufacture certain sizes of Pirelli tyres for sale in the US, as well as providing logistics support. The two companies will investigate the feasibility of Pirelli manufacturing selected UHP Cooper tyres in the future. It is intended that the transition regarding existing Pirelli dealers will be smooth, ensuring that customer service is not adversely affected. The changes in the alliance are mutually acceptable and both companies continue to regard themselves as partners in technical and other related matters. D. Richard Stephens, President of Cooper Tire, and Francesco Gori, General Manager, Pirelli Tyre Worldwide, issued a joint statement, as follows: Our companies have learned to know and appreciate each other since the beginning and are looking forward to a new and different phase of our alliance which will benefit customers for both brands. Under the terms of the original alliance, signed in February 1999, Cooper managed the sales and distribution of tyres in the replacement markets of the USA, Canada and Mexico. Pirelli developed products for the US market and strengthened brand awareness via participation in motorsports.
Continue ReadingIncreased Share Capital For Nokian
At its AGM, Nokian Tyres decided to raise its share capital from 17,798,127.40 Euro to 21,164,572.00 Euro. The companys Articles of Association were amended to allow for a share capital of between a minimum of 16 million Euro and a maximum of 64 million. No new shares will be issued; the 3,366,444.60 Euro will be raised by transferring this amount from the share premium account to the share capital.
Continue ReadingOil Sheikhs Make The Americans Worry
Shares at Goodyear and Cooper are falling. At Goodyear especially, internal factors are not being helped by rising oil prices, which increase costs and affect the spending power of consumers. This has led to weaker-than-expected demand for new cars. Wall Street analysts, such as Deutsche Bank Research, are warning of possible inflationary pressure, but they do not want to sound too pessimistic.
Continue ReadingRecalls From General Motors And Chrysler Too
General Motors is set to recall 1.9 million small cars because of ignition failures and Chrysler has announced a recall of 650,000 cars due to problems with seat belts.
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