All employees of the Fintyre Group’s 16 subsidiary companies in Germany who didn’t receive their wages or salaries for January have now received insolvency benefits – which Fintyre will ultimately pay for, one way or another.
A webcast of Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s business overview and strategies will be held on 14 January; the live audio webcast of executive vice-president and chief financial officer Laura Thompson’s 40 minute presentation at the 2014 Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference in Detroit, US can be viewed from the http://investor.goodyear.com and will be available 1:35pm local time (6:35pm GMT, 7:35pm CET) on 14 January.
Deutsche Bank Equity Research Automotive has adjusted its 2013 and 2014 earnings outlook for Bridgestone Corporation. In a company update published on 18 November, analyst Kurt Sanger wrote that overall, Bridgestone’s strong third quarter performance highlighted the company’s “operational excellence through cost controls.”
October volumes in mature markets have risen by three per cent, according to Michelin. While North American passenger car tyre volumes increased a little more than in Europe to reach an aggregate rise of two per cent, Europe led truck tyre increases at nine per cent versus North America’s six per cent.
Nexen’s third quarter figures have underperformed market expectations. According to Deutsche Bank research published 1 November, Nexen’s operating profit results were 13 per cent below consensus expectations.
Nokian Tyres’ management has issued a profit warning stating that second half revenues are likely to be lower than expected. Third quarter sales are said to be stable year-on-year, which are somewhat lower than some analysts’ projections (Deutsche Bank for example had said +10 per cent).
Tyre demand is picking up in the US, according to analysts and industry associations alike. Industry body RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association) estimates that US light vehicle replacement tyre shipments increased 7.1 per cent year-on-year in August. US replacement commercial truck tyre volumes were estimated to be up 3 per cent year-on-year.
Nexen Tire’s second quarter results failed to live up to average analyst expectations. Although unit sales rose 17 per cent year-on-year, a ten per cent drop in average selling price compared with the second quarter of 2012 meant net sales revenue only increased 3.7 per cent to KRW 451.1 billion (£262.0 million) – 12.1 per cent lower than the consensus estimate of KRW 463.21 billion. Gross profit rose 4.6 per cent to KRW 125.1 billion (£72.7 million) and gross profit margin increased 0.2 per cent to 27.7 per cent.
As mentioned on 30 July, Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s second quarter net earnings per share of US$0.67 were markedly above the average analyst estimate. Deutsche Bank Equity Research Automotive comments that Goodyear’s Q2 operating earnings per share of $0.76 were a full $0.32 cents per share above its own prediction.
Hankook’s second quarter results show that the manufacturer is well-placed to take advantage of the anticipated gradual recovery of replacement markets in the next year and a half. Indeed, the 1.4 per cent increase in revenue growth indicates that the Korean manufacturer is already experiencing some upward momentum, this figure having declined in the previous two quarters. Deutsche Bank analyst Sanjeev Rana commented that the company’s ongoing product mix improvement and falling raw materials costs should combine with the American and European recovery to keep Hankook’s margins “resilient”, while the bank also expects its operating profit to “grow 18 per cent” year-on-year in in the second half of 2013.
Continental reports its latest Eurobond has a nominal amount of €750 million; it is expected to be issued on 16 July and has a term of five years, with a 3.0 per cent annual interest rate. Interest will be payable semi-annually in arrears. The issue price is 98.95 per cent. The bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s Regulated Market and BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, ING and UniCredit will as joint-bookrunners for the transaction.
Continental has released details of its upcoming Eurobond offer. It says it will issue a bond with a volume of at least €500 million and a term to maturity of five years, and intends to use the issue proceeds thereof for the partial refinancing of its bond issued in September 2010. The offer is open to investors residing outside the US, Canada, Australia and Japan. The issue volume and bond conditions are expected to be determined in the next few days.
Korean tyre manufacturers have outperformed the Korean Kospi index year-to-date. According to an investor’s note published by financial analyst at Deutsche Bank, the strong showing has come thanks to “a sharp decline in raw material costs, strong earnings delivery and expectations of demand recovery in in the second half of 2013”, with the latter point welcome news for everyone.
The first quarter of 2013 appears to have been a "brutto trimestre" for Pirelli & C. SpA, with the Italian firm’s net profit dropping 41.7 per cent year-on-year between 1 January and 31 March. It was, in Pirelli’s words, a period “characterised by an economic scenario still strongly influenced by the crisis affecting Europe, where the demand for goods and services continues to shrink.”
Back in October 2011, analysts at Deutsche Bank predicted that natural rubber prices would average US$4.50 a kilogramme in 2013. At the moment it looks as if that projection way off – last week, natural rubber prices reached a new low, sinking in excess of eight per cent to $2.50 a kilogramme.
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