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Record Sales For Cooper In 1Q

Cooper Tire & Rubber’s first quarter results show sales at an all-time record high of $974 million; a Year-on-Year increase of 23 per cent. Net income increased by 56 per cent to $24 million (1Q 2003: $15 m). Tire Group operations showed a record turnover of $485 million, 23 per cent up on the 1Q 2003 figure of $396 million, and a 12 per cent increase in volumes and an improved mix. Sales of high performance tyres rose by 47 per cent, those of P-metric tyres were up 52 per cent and truck tyre sales were up 27 per cent. Despite this, operating profit was down slightly at just under $16 million. Raw material costs reduced operating profit by $18 million while product liability and litigation costs were $9 million higher than 1Q 2003.

23rd April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper’s 1Q Results “Will Be Higher Than Expected”

Cooper Tire & Rubber has said that its earnings per share for the first quarter of 2004 will be around 30-34 cents per share; significantly higher than the forecast of 24-28 cents per share. The reasons are higher sales, a strong performance of Cooper-Standard Automotive and a smaller than expected impact of raw material prices. Cooper’s full 1Q results will be released on April 22nd.

16th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Vice President To Retire

Mark Armstrong is to retire in May as Vice President of the Cooper Tire and Rubber Co., after 26 years’ service. Chairman, President and CEO Tom Dattilo described his contributions as “crucial” to the development and implementation of the company’s strategy and in providing direction for the company. Armstrong joined Cooper as a Territory Manager and held various sales and marketing positions until his appointment as Vice President, responsible for global sales and marketing.

14th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper wants to sell auto group

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is reported to want to sell off its automotive group. The automotive parts division accounted for almost half of last years sales. Cooper-Standard Automotive, based in Michigan, had revenues of about 1.66 billion US dollars in 2003. Cooper said it could use money gained from selling the auto unit to reduce debt or invest in tyre operations. Chairman Thomas Dattilo said the company may be better off concentrating on its tyre business and expanding overseas.

25th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Schroeder is Cooper Tire’s Financial Director

Gary C. Schroeder has been appointed director of financial planning and analysis for Cooper’s global tyre operations. Schroeder came to Cooper Tire from the Cooper-Standard Automotive where he had been serving as global director of cost and reporting since 2002.

12th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Tire Motorsports brings Mickey Thompson Tyres to the UK

In the sport of drag racing Mickey Thompson Drag Tyres are a force to be reckoned with in the United States. Now, through Cooper Tire Motorsports, Mickey Thompson drag tyres will be available from Avon Tyres Racing and three specialist distributors in the UK.

5th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to tackle double-digit US losses

Deutsche Bank (DB) met with Continental management at Geneva to discuss the North American situation. Continental highlighted to DB that like Cooper and Michelin they had high confidence that price increases in the NA market would stick, as increases in raw materials prices had to be passed on to end users. Continental also told BD that the company is strongly committed to tackle double-digit OP losses in the US passenger car tyre division. The company though believes that breaking even in the US in 2006 will remain challenging, as it is not simply a cost reduction issue. Continental also indicated the high growth in the Automotive System sector (electronics and ESP), which should enable the company to maintain a current high 8 per cent OP margin. DB felt that this showed Continental as a great company focused on cost reduction; “however, we believe much of this good news is already in the share price, which doubled last year.”

4th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Mastercraft – New UK Distributor

Interstate Europe BV, the European importers for the Mastercraft brand manufactured by Cooper Tire, has announced the appointment of British & International Tyre Supplies (B.I.T.S.) as the new UK distributors for the complete Mastercraft passenger tyre range. Read the full story in the April edition of Tyres & Accessories.

1st March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

More Outsourcing For Cooper

Back in October, Cooper Tire & Rubber announced that Chinese manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce would produce 300,000 radial medium truck tyres for the US company. Now Cooper has revealed that Hangzhou Zhongce is also to make one million passenger radials for the US market; these will be in six sizes under the brand names Cooper, Mastercraft, Dean and Starfire. Dick Stephens, president of Cooper’s Tire Group, said that the outsourcing will help Cooper meet growing demand, especially for the Zeon high performance lines. “By outsourcing some of our broadline products, we can devote more production capacity to the more exotic performance tyres,” commented Stephens, adding: “We have increased capacity at all of our US plants and these tyres from Hangzhou will help fill the gap between our capacity and projected demand.” The tyres will be manufactured to Cooper’s specifications and engineers are currently in China conducting audits to ensure the highest quality standards.

25th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper ups production at Findlay

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company plans to add capacity at its Findlay (Ohio) plant with an equipment investment of 1.8 million US dollars. The capacity will increase by 500,000 tyres annually and add at least 30 additional jobs in the Findlay production facility. Bill Woeste, vice president manufacturing, said, “We expect this equipment to be in place and at full production levels by late summer,” he concluded. In January, Cooper announced investments in its other three U.S. tyre plants; with Findlay added, the total investment is nearly 34 million US dollars and an added capacity of almost 3 million units annually.

20th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Daekyung signs up Cooper Tire & Rubber

Daekyung Chemical Corp. has agreed to a contract to Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.’s automotive parts group. Cooper-Standard Automotive will help design and support engineering development for engine mounting systems for future Kia and and Hyundai vehicles.

19th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper will focus on HP, UHP this year

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. plans to substantially boost its high performance and ultra-high performance tyre market share in 2004, Cooper Chairman, CEO and President Tom Dattilo told analysts. The 2003 figure of 2 per cent market share is a half per cent ahead of 2002 and the company is said to be selling out of its Zeon UHP product. Meeting demand will depend upon increased reliance on Asian partners, but a 32 million dollar investment in the three USA plants will also contribute to meeting demand. Sales for the last quarter were a record 967 million dollars and tyre Group sales were up 6 per cent on the previous year.

13th February 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Tire Increases Investment

Cooper Tire and Rubber has announced increased capital equipment investments in three of their four US tyre manufacturing facilities. This increase provides additional production capacity of more than 2.4 million units. The 32.1 million US dollar investment will include the purchase of new tyre building machinery and presses and add 116 additional manufacturing employees.

20th January 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper and Kenda in joint venture

Cooper has expanded its Far Eastern presence with a joint venture with Taiwanese tyre manufacturer Kenda. The two companies will build a plant to make radial passenger and light truck tyres, which will be situated in the Jiangsu Province of the People’s Republic of China and jointly owned by the two manufacturers. Construction will begin in the middle of next year, with tyre production starting late 2005. The tyres will be aimed at markets outside China. Speaking of the deal, Cooper’s Thomas A. Dattilo said: “It will allow us to add capacity and lower costs in our tyre business. It also gives us a base for sales in China down the road as the Chinese market increases significantly over the next decade.”

18th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Fiedler stepped down from Cooper board

Cooper Tire & Rubber announced that John F. Fiedler (65) has stepped down from his post on the board. Fiedler had been a director of the Company since April 2002. Upon the announcement of his resignation, Fiedler commented, “It has been a privilege to serve on the Cooper board. This is truly a quality organization with solid leadership. I am proud of my affiliation with Cooper and the time I invested here.”

16th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors