Bandag
Yuill & Dodds is one of Scotland’s leading haulage specialists. Established in 1953, the company operates a fleet of more than 200 vehicles, ranging from long-haul artics and tipping trailers to off-road eight-wheel units.
Over the past year, Eurofleet Tyres & Services, the organisation incorporating Bandag’s European fleet initiatives, has worked with the Yuill & Dodds team to provide retreading and reporting systems.
Bandag Inc’s fourth quarter 2005 net earnings slid to less than half of their 2004 level despite strong net sales of $252.3 million (£142 million), up seven per cent. Consolidated net earnings totalled $12.1 million, compared with $30.8 million in 2004. According to the company, net sales were positively impacted by foreign currency translation to the tune of approximately $3.5 million.
Announcing its full-year 2005 results, Bandag reported consolidated net sales of $914.6 against $864.3 million in 2004. Consolidated net earnings for 2005 were $49.5 million compared to $66.9 million in 2004.
Apollo Tyres Ltd is to buy Dunlop Tyres International (Pty) Ltd (Dunlop South Africa) for US$62 million. The all-cash deal will see Apollo take on 100 per cent equity for 2.9 billion rupees (£37.3 million). The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in both countries, including that of the South African Competition Commission, and a number of conditions. The Durban, South Africa-headquartered company also owns subsidiaries in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. The news follows speculation that Apollo Tyres was interested in purchasing Dunlop Zimbabwe.
Swedish company Hedbergs has been in the tyre business for over 50 years and started retreading tyres as early as 1958. In 2001 the company decided to switch to the Bandag retreading process.
Demand for Bandag retreads grew rapidly from the outset, propelling production at the Hedbergs shop to maximum capacity in just three and a half years. One of the reasons for this was the opening of the Öresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö, in 2000.
(Akron/Tire Review) Retreading material manufacturer Bandag Inc has increased prices by 7 per cent on some of its tread stock and tyre repair products sold in the US. The 1 November increase does not impact other markets.
The board of directors of Bandag, Incorporated, has announced an increase in the regular quarterly dividend from $0.33 per share to $0.335 per share on the Common Stock, Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock of the company. The dividend is payable 20 January 2006 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 20 December 2005.
ARS spol s.r.o. has opened a brand-new facility close to major highways in the Bratislava area. The inauguration was part of an Open House event held on 22 September 2005 and was attended by the management of Bandag Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The new premises combine a state-of-the-art Bandag retreading workshop, a huge service outlet for trucks and the company’s new offices. Customer benefits include faster, much-improved service and easier access.
Bandag has confirmed the news that more than a dozen staff members, including director of sales Peter De Cabooter, have left its European organisation, as was first published at www.tyrepress.com. According to the international retreading system supplier 16 employees have left the company. These people were said to be mainly operating in South European and CIS countries although some Brussels based personnel were also affected.
“Some call this restructuring, we prefer to describe this as right sizing for our future business model and allocating resources where they should be,” Bandag said in its statement. “Most of the job losses were part of a longer process of fine-tuning our organisation for future developments.
As many as two dozen of Bandag’s senior managers, including Peter de Cabooter, sales director Europe and Lennart Lindstroem, production director Europe, are said to have left the company last week. There are no specific details of whether the executives left voluntarily or were asked to leave. While there are not many confirmed details, it is clear that Bandag is losing ground in the European market.
DFDS, the Danish road transport giant, has ordered 1,000 new trailers from German company Bernard Krone GmbH to be delivered over the next 18 months. The trailers will be fitted with 6,000 Bandag retreads as original equipment, manufactured by Bandag dealers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the UK, Czech Republic and Hungary.
Ryan Transport of Cardiff, Wales, is a mid-sized general haulage company, whose fleet consists of 10 tractors, 30 trailers and five rigid trucks.
The company is enthusiastic about Bandag retreading and services, having fitted the tyres consistently over the past decade. All its
wheel positions behind the steer axle are fitted with Bandag tyre products:
• BDE (E) on all rigid truck drive axles
• BDE1 (E) on all tractor unit drive axles
• B164(E) and BWBT (E) on all trailer wheel positions
Galdax AB is located in Vara, 100 km northeast of Göteborg, and is Bandag’s new ally in an ambitious plan to increase its market share in Sweden.
“As a tyre business, we are ideally situated where we are,” says Claes Amnäs, General Manager of Galdax AB. “We are located not far from the main roads that link Norway, Stockholm and Göteborg. Many fleets
operate in the area and we are within striking distance of Sweden’s most industrialised cities.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Bandag Inc. has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share on Common Stock, Class A, Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. The dividend is payable 20 October to shareholders from the close of business on 20 September.
Cairo-based Internile for Tyres Ltd and HL & H Prod Com SRL have joined Bandag’s retreader network, along with Internile Tyres, Egypt
Bucharest-based HL & H Prod Com SRL recently went into business operating as a joint venture between two experienced specialists from the Israeli tyre sector. Since then, the Bucharest public bus company Filaret has reportedly been full of praise for Bandag retreaded tyres. Filaret actually bought its retreads from Hatzav, the Israeli parent company of Bandag Dealer TGL (Aviation) Rubber Company, in Acre, Israel.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bandag Inc. has launched BDV (Bandag Drive Urban), a new pre-cure tread the company said is designed especially for bus drive tyres and for all wheel positions on pickup/delivery vehicles. Used extensively in its South American and Asian markets, said Bandag, the BDV tread design will replace Bandag’s Omnibus design in North America, which is being phased out in the next year.
Bandag said the new tread is ideal for commercial applications “where irregular wear from corners and curbs presents a maintenance challenge.” The tread is available in 210, 220 and 230 mm sizes. “Field trials in the US on two urban bus fleets shows that BDV delivered 20 per cent better tread wear over the tread it is replacing,” said Chris Hoffman, Bandag’s product manager for global tyre products, “BDV offers a deep 22/32-inch tread depth which reduces maintenance expenses for fleet managers.”
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