Tyre industry jobs, appointments and personnel-related information.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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:
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.”
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.
UK wheel alignment specialist Supertracker has announced the relocation of its headquarters from Sholing in Southampton to nearby Hedge End. The company said increased demand for its increasing product range was the main reason for the change of locations for its entire manufacturing, sales and administration operations. The new address is new and custom built, which will enable further expansion, according to managing director Trevor Lovesy: “Since our launch twenty three years ago, Supertracker has always maintained a policy of continuous improvement in both products and services through natural evolution and ongoing customer demands. Therefore moving to our new office and manufacturing complex – which gives us easier motorway access and interior layout possibilities – is the latest development in this process.”
Goodyear has today released the following statement about changes to its European credit facility: “The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced that it has amended and restated its European revolving credit facility and closed an offering of €250 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due in 2019 by its European subsidiary, Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe B.V. (GDTE). Changes to the European credit facility include the extension of the maturity to 2016 and the reduction of available commitments from €505 million to €400 million. Loans under the amended facility will bear interest at EURIBOR plus 250 basis points.
Hankook Tire announced the highest quarterly global sales on record for the first quarter of 2011 with turnover totalling 1.4 trillion Korean won, a 16.3 per cent year-on-year increase. Hankook Tire’s first quarter operating profit for 2011 amounted to 179 billion won. Operating profit to sales ratio was 12.4 per cent, up from 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Elgi Rubber International Limited has announced the acquisition of a 100 per cent interest in Rubber Resources B.V. on 16 March, 2011. Elgi, headquartered in India, has operations in the USA, Brazil, East Africa and other parts of the Indian Subcontinent, focusing on rubber recycling, especially in tyres and retreading. Elgi says the acquisition “means a strong presence in Europe and big step towards being a worldwide supplier of reclaim to the rubber industry”.
Bridgestone has announced the approval by its board of directors of three vice presidents’ changes of position and responsibilities. Yoshiyuki Morimoto is now responsible solely for products development in his senior officer role, with Tatsuro Hamada taking over responsibility for tyre research and material development. Hamada’s previous position as internal manufacturing management officer has been transferred to Masahito Tsuji, who has added this responsibility to his role as procurement officer.
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