Tyre industry jobs, appointments and personnel-related information.
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.
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.
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.’’
More than a fortnight after the much famed scrappage scheme came to an end and two weeks before the general election, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has published a “manifesto” urging the next government (whoever they will be) to continue support for the UK automotive industry.
Directing its plans squarely at the next government, SMMT outlines the key issues that will affect the UK motor industry in the near future and advises on policy direction to maximise the industry’s potential. The automotive sector is a vital part of the UK economy with a turnover of £52 billion, exports amounting to 10 per cent of the UK total and supporting over 800,000 jobs and is at the forefront of low-carbon technology.
Goodyear has announced it will report its first quarter 2010 financial results before markets open on Wednesday 28 April, following the announcement up with an investor conference call at 10:00 that morning (Eastern US time). The newly appointed president and chief executive officer Richard J Kramer will participate, alongside Darren R Wells, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Damon J. Audia, senior vice president, finance and treasurer.
German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is reported to be locked in a Paris studio this week, taking the pictures for Pirelli’s 2011 calendar. Isabeli Fontana – a Brazilian supermodel involved in the shoot – tweeted a picture of the models to be featured, which include Heidi Mount, Magdalena Frackowiak, Bianca Balti, and Natasha Poly.
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Former COO Richard J. Kramer has taken over as president and chief executive officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Kramer, who becomes the 19th president since the company’s foundation in 1898, follows Robert J. Keegan who remains with the company as executive chairman.
Speaking at Goodyear’s 2010 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Kramer described the tyre industry as one of very few industries that has been and remains a growth industry after more than 100 years: “I am privileged to lead a team whose dedication to Goodyear and commitment to success is second to none,” he said, thanking Keegan and the board of directors for their confidence in electing him to lead the company.
Continental AG has reportedly revived plans to sell bonds to help it repay large debts. Citing “two people familiar with the matter,” Business Week reported that the planned sale of about 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in notes may take place as early as May.
A Knoxville federal magistrate judge has ruled that pictures at the centre of industrial espionage case linking Wyko and Goodyear must be viewed “in camera” to protect the interests of those involved. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that US Magistrate Judge Clifford Shirley has approved federal prosecutors' request to keep the seven mobile phone pictures allegedly taken at Goodyear’s Topeka, Kansas OTR plant in May 2007 by Wyko Tire Technology employees Clark Alan Roberts and Sean Edward Howley secret.
Roberts and Howley are accused of visiting The Goodyear plant under false pretences, covertly using their mobile phones to take photographs of proprietary equipment and sending these to Wyko’s Dudley, UK. These photos were then allegedly used to complete a “similar piece of machinery” for China’s Haohau South China Guilin Rubber Company Limited. The photos reportedly depict Goodyear’s proprietary “Swab Down System” which is used in the production of giant earthmover tyres to wrap rubber around a cable.
Will the leading global tyre manufacturers be able to increase product prices during the course of 2010? Yes, but not by much. That’s the view of Morgan Stanley’s financial analysts who published their assessment in an investor report published yesterday (16 March). Affirming the position, widely held amongst financial analysts, that the tyre industry is historically able to maintain “price discipline,” they commented that: “All major companies have already released price increase announcements – the industry is disciplined.”
Morgan Stanley analysts have decreased the bank’s 2010/2011 Pirelli earnings per share estimates by 20 – 25 euro cents, following the company’s fourth quarter results. This means the analysts have reduced their estimates from 3.39 euros to 3.18 euros and 4.53 euros to 4.28 euros for 2010 and 2011 respectively. They also commented that bank’s tyre EBIT estimates are now in line with the market consensus.
However, while the latest investors note (published on 16 March) was direct in assessment that earnings would be reduced, the analysts also outlined potential events that would make them change their mind. At the top of their wish list are changes in group organization, which Pirelli’s management has publicly announced that is seeking: “We applaud the efforts Pirelli is taking to focus on the core tyre business and believe the market will continue to reward the company for this, as it has done in the months.”
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co’s chairman and outgoing chief executive of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. received a pay package worth as much as US$17.196 million in 2009. While Keegan’s “non-equity incentive plan compensation” virtually doubled from $4.6 million to $9.514 million during the period, total pay was only 5.39 per cent up on the $16.317 million he received last year. In 2008 Keegan’s package was worth $23.6 million, according to company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Titan International’s shareholders voted to double the company’s common shares offered on the stock market, reports Tire Review. The board revised Titan’s articles of incorporation to increase the number of common stock shares form 60 million to 120 million. Titan said 86 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the move. Titan chairman and CEO Morry Taylor said the new shares will “allow the company additional flexibility for possible business opportunities.”
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company returned to profit, reporting net income of $52 million (£34.895 million; 38.439 million euros) for the year compared with losses of $219 million (£147 million; 161.890 million euros) in 2008. Annual sales of $2.8 billion (£1.878 billion; 2.086 billion euros) for 2009, were down 4 per cent from 2008.
Extended OEM shutdowns and downturns in its core markets led US company Titan International to a $300 million sales fall-off in 2009, reports Tire Review. Titan posted 2009 sales of $727.6 million, as compared to $1,036.7 million in 2008. Net loss for the year was $24.6 million, compared to net income of $13.3 million in 2008.
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