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Matador Q1 Earnings up 18 Per Cent

During the period between January 1 and March 31 2007 the Matador group reported earnings of SKK 4.54 billion (£90.6 million), an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2006. From this figure, Matador’s rubber division recorded earnings of SKK 3.52 billion (£70.3 million), and of this 78 per cent was generated via the company’s M-Pneu tyre division

During the three-month period the group reached a pre-tax profit of SKK 296 million (£5.9 million), SKK 47 million (£938,000) more than during January to March 2006. The company’s rubber business earned SKK 278 million (£5.5 million) and its automotive division SKK 18 million (£359,000). Profit to sales ratio reached 7.3 per cent, attributable largely to lower operating costs at the beginning of the year.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Gajah Tunggal Bond Top Up Attracts $1 billion

According to news published in Finance Asia, Indonesia’s PT Gajah Tunggal re-opened its July 2010 bond programme on June 4, pricing US$95 million worth of 10.25 per cent guaranteed senior unsecured notes through financial services groups Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers. The B2(stable)/B(positive) Reg-S transaction (a transaction conducted without registration under the US Securities Act) attracted orders to the tune of $1 billion.

The re-opened bonds priced at 102.75 (yielding 9.2 per cent), in contrast to the existing bonds, which as of June 4 traded at 103.125 or 9.07 per cent. The new issue price equates to a yield spread of 423.9bp over two-year Treasuries. The transaction tapped the company’s existing $325 million bond programme due to mature in 2010, raising the total size of the programme to $420 million.

5th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Performance Fibers Announces China Expansion

In order to meet ever growing radial production in the Asia region, polyester fibre manufacturer Performance Fibers has taken the decision to expand the capacity of its tyre cord fabric facility in Kaiping, China by 30 per cent. The company will install new equipment and machinery, which should be operational at full capacity by the third quarter of 2007.

This most recent investment is the latest in a series of planned expansions at the Kaiping, including a greenfield expansion completed in 2006 to expand production of the company’s patented Dimensionally Stable Polyester high performance fibre and fabrics. These expansions have more than tripled capacity since early 2004, “This latest investment shows our ongoing commitment to meeting the strong demands of the Asian tyre market that continues to experience double-digit growth,” said Greg Rogowski, president and CEO of Performance Fibers. “As we have previously announced, additional expansions are planned into the future.”

5th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

India & China Fuelling Increased Carbon Black Demand

According to the US market research organisation the Freedonia Group, worldwide demand for carbon black is forecast to rise by 4.2 per cent per annum, reaching an annual consumption of 11 million tonnes in 2011. Consumption is predicted to particularly grow in the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to the continuing expansion of China and India’s automotive and tyre industries. These two countries also saw the largest increases in new carbon black capacity between 2001 and 2006. In contrast, Freedonia states that it expects demand in developed regions to “post below-average gains through 2011, with the large US and Japanese markets holding particularly weak prospects.”

Two-thirds of this anticipated demand will come from the tyre industry, which is expected to account for 7.1 million tonnes by 2011. And with little construction of new carbon black production facilities, utilisation rates in developed markets is predicted to remain at 95 per cent or higher.

4th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Run-Flat Mousse – Victim of its Own Success

As we reach the mid-season break in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship, it is worth pausing to remember a small and seldom celebrated development that for two decades has kept competitors in the action and even seen drivers take first place when disaster would otherwise have loomed large. This saviour of many a racing team’s competition hopes is the mousse insert, an innovation that can keep a tyre in roadworthy condition even after receiving substantial damage.

It is twenty years since the Michelin Group first publicly showed off this mousse insert, which it christened the ATS (Appui Temporaire Souple, or Flexible Temporary Support), at the gruelling 1987 Acropolis Rally. Initially the system had its limitations, with post-puncture use restricted to a maximum of 30 kilometres and centrifugal force caused by the moving mousse ring creating unpleasant steering wheel vibrations, but despite these teething troubles, numerous improvements were made in subsequent years and today the system is said to enable vehicles to keep driving on 90 per cent of all punctures.

4th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

On a Roll

India’s third largest tyre manufacturer, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd (JK Tyre), has made no secret of its plans to increase domestic market share in key segments and to seek out new export markets, but bringing these goals to fruition requires the expansion of the company’s existing production capacities. Therefore JK Tyre has its eye on making an investment of somewhere between £60 million and £75 million in this area over the next three years.

President of JK Tyre, Mr. Arun K. Bajoria, recently spoke to the respected Indian daily publication Hindu Business Line regarding the steps his company was making towards realising its aims. “The expansion will be across the four existing facilities and the investments would be spread over the next three years,” he stated. “But in the next 12 months we would be first investing around Rs 120 crore (£15 million) for increasing the capacity by around 50 per cent in the off the road tyres segment used by the mining, cement, coal and earth-moving sectors.”

22nd May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

JK Tyres Sales & Profit Up

For the quarter ending March 31, 2007 JK Tyre & Industries Ltd posted a net profit of £2.64 million as compared to £435,460 in the corresponding previous quarter. Net sales for the period increased 19.48 per cent to £91.35 million from £76.45 million a year earlier. The company’s net profit during the first half of the current fiscal year stood at £1.68 million, compared with £439,000 during the first six months of 2005-06. Net sales rose 17.13 per cent to £194.73 million from the previous year’s total of £165.26.

At present JK Tyre is the undisputed leader of India’s truck and bus radial market with a market share of close to 80 per cent. The company’s light truck and passenger car radial market segments, while not reaching these levels, are still a healthy 25 and 24 per cent respectively. JK Tyre also enjoys a market share approaching 23 per cent in the nylon truck tyre segment.

14th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Europe appoints new PR manager

Hankook has appointed a new head of public relations for its European markets. Effective as of May 1, 2007, Felix Kinzer stepped into this role, taking over from Benedikt Preussner, who will now take charge of European media and event planning for Hankook Europe.

Mr. Kinzer, aged 44, has served in a number of public relations roles within the tyre industry for more than 15 years, most recently heading up his own press office in Munich, from which he supplied automotive related articles to various car and tyre magazines. Previous industry positions include head of the public relations department at Pirelli Germany and public relations manager for Bridgestone’s German operations.

Amongst other responsibilities, Mr. Kinzer will be responsible for the expansion and strategic positioning of Hankook’s pan-European press activities, a role of particular importance in light of the upcoming inauguration of the company’s Dunaujvaros production facility in Hungary, Hankook’s first in Europe.

14th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Treble HPT Capacity at Shinshiro-Minami

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it is to increase production capacity of its Shinshiro-Minami Plant in Aichi Prefecture. By expanding a tyre plant now in operation, the company will more than treble the plant’s production capacity from current 1 million to 3.1 million tyres a year in the 2009 full year. Yokohama Rubber plans to invest 10 billion yen in the plant expansion.

Yokohama Rubber constructed the Shinshiro-Minami Plant as a branch plant of Shinshiro Plant at a site of Shinshiro South Regional Industrial Park purchased from Aichi Prefecture in April 2002. Following a mixing plant’s start of operation in April 2003, a plant specialized in manufacturing high-performance tyres (HPT) with larger internal diameters for passenger cars and sports utility vehicles began operating in February 2004.

10th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyreweb Opens New 20,000 sq ft Warehouse

As Tyreweb approaches its 30th year in business, company founders Karl and Susan Webber are celebrating their business’ expansion into a new 20,000 square foot warehouse. But what triggered the company’s recent success?

“Over the years, Tyreweb found on many occasions it was impossible to source tyres that were required the same day that were non stock tyres, being aware that other companies would be in the same position, we put a van on the road to offer two deliveries a day to customers a little further afield,” the Webbers told Tyres & Accesssories.

11th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

India’s Birla Nuvo to Double Carbon Black Output

Aditya Birla Nuvo has announced plans to double its proposed greenfield expansion in the western region from 60,000 tonnes per annum to 120,000 tonnes per annum to capitalise on the rapidly growing tyre sector in India. The move would reportedly make Aditya Birla Nuvo the largest producer of carbon black in the domestic market, overtaking RPG Group-controlled Philips Carbon Black Company.

29th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear India to Pay Dividend

Goodyear India has stated that a meeting of the company’s board of directors will be held on March 25 to review the annual financial results for the year ended December. 31, 2006, and it is reported that the board will recommend the payment of a dividend.

The company operates two manufacturing facilities in India, one of which, the Ballabhgarh plant near Delhi, has recently been the subject of a £4.7 million expansion program aimed at doubling farm tyre production to 700 units a day. The close proximity of the Ballabhgarh plant to the factories of three main tractor manufacturers – Eicher, Escorts and Punjab Tractors – was instrumental in the decision to expand the Goodyear facility.

As of March 21 Goodyear India shares were trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 143.65 (£1.68), down Rs 0.55 or 0.38 per cent.

21st March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli – China is “Pivotal”

In addition to its commitment to the FIA-GT Championship, which kicks off for 2007 at the Zhuhai circuit in Guangdong Province on March 23, Pirelli Competizioni will also take a leading role in an up and coming race series, the Asia SuperCar Challenge (ASCC), a series for GT cars in South-East Asia. Pirelli has entered into an agreement to be the exclusive tyre supplier for all 10 scheduled races held between March and September.

The Italian tyremaker views the agreement signed between Pirelli Competizioni and series organisers, the SuperCar Club Hong Kong Ltd, as confirmation of Pirelli’s focus upon China – including on the sporting front – and the company’s efforts to become firmly established as more than just another international tyremaker operating in China. Therefore, Pirelli point out that the presence of PZero Racing tyres in the ASCC series should not be seen as a surprise development, but as a product of the company’s ongoing support for an extremely interesting, immense and competitive market, one in which Pirelli Tyre SpA has been active for two years and is experiencing healthy growth, thanks in part to the company’s newly established facilities for the production of car and truck tyres.

21st March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

A Family Affair

The next generation of the Poddar family, who control the £175 million Siyaram group, is getting ready to take the baton from their elders. Rajeev Poddar has recently joined his father Arvind at the group’s flagship company, Balkrishna Industries, which manufactures OTR and agricultural tyres in India under the BKT brand name. Avnish and Gaurav Poddar have also joined the family controlled business, this time taking on roles at Siyaram Silk Mills, the group’s textile business.

The Poddar family recently undertook a management restructuring of the Siyaram group’s subsidiary companies, confirming management of Balkrishna Industries by Vinod and Arvind Poddar, sons of the late Mahavirprasad Poddar. The other branch of the Poddar family, the sons of Dharaprasad Poddar, remain in charge of the company’s textile business. However both families continue to hold equal stakes in each of the group’s companies.

Last year the Poddars sold a 7.43 per cent stake in Balkrishna Industries to private equity firms Evercore and Chryscapital in order to fund the company’s future expansion plans.

20th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Signs First Major Fleet Deal With Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Kwik-Fit Fleet has won its first major vehicle servicing fleet deal with one of the UK’s largest suppliers of rental cars. The fast-fit giant will become the preferred servicing supplier of the 30,000 cars and light commercial vehicles on the Enterprise Rent-A-Car fleet.

In the UK, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is a major provider of vehicles to corporate and public sector fleets as well as offering replacement vehicles and courtesy cars. The company started in the UK in 1994 and operates from more than 300 locations. The majority of Enterprise Rent-A-Car branches are within five miles of a Kwik-Fit centre so making it easy for vehicles to undergo an oil and filter change, an interim service or full service depending on mileage.

15th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors