Record unit shipments and net sales were the headline news upon the release of Superior Industries International Inc.’s financial results for the second quarter of 2018 – a performance resulting from the company’s acquisition of Uniwheels last year. The company has also slightly raised its income and EBITDA projections for the entire year.
Pirelli & C. SpA has published its financial results for the first half of 2018. The key figures show a 2.0 per cent year-on-year decline in revenues to 2.63 billion euros despite organic growth of 5.5 per cent; adjusted EBIT rose 6.8 per cent to 473.3 million euros and the margin increased from 16.5 per cent (H1 2017) to 18.0 per cent; Net income (before discontinued operations) was up 169.1 per cent to 181.9 million euros.
The results reported by Cooper Tire & Rubber for the second quarter of 2018 were, says the company’s president and chief executive officer, “in line with our stated expectations.” It therefore came as no great surprise that net sales, operating income and net income were all lower year-on-year in the three months to 30 June 2018.
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. posted an 8.3 per cent increase in business profit (a measure basically equivalent to operating income and calculated as sales revenue less the sum of cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses) to 11.7 billion yen (£78.6 million), and a 27.5 per cent increase in operating profit to 14.1 billion yen (£94.8 million) in the first quarter of 2018. The company’s sales revenue in the three months to 31 March 2018 increased 2.3 per cent to 149.2 billion yen (£1.0 billion), the highest sales total ever reported by Yokohama Rubber.
Although its sales rose 0.9 per cent to 859.8 billion yen (£5.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2018, Bridgestone Corporation experienced a 3.1 per cent decline in operating income, to 99.8 billion yen (£673.5 million). The company attributes this to raw material costs and higher selling, general and administrative costs. The operating margin shrank half a percentage point to 11.6 per cent. Ordinary income amounted to 92.7 billion yen (£625.6 million) and profit attributable to owners of parent was 63.4 billion yen (£427.9 million).
During the final quarter of its 2017-18 financial year, net sales at Apollo Tyres rose 22 per cent year-on-year to Rs 39.82 billion (£437.3 million). Operating profit increased 33 per cent to Rs 5.59 billion (£61.4 million), while net profit in the three months to 31 March 2018 was up ten per cent to Rs 2.50 billion (£27.5 million).
Although held back by exchange rate effects, net sales at Nokian Tyres were higher in the first three months of 2018 than a year earlier. Sales were up 3.1 per cent to 336.0 million euros; had the exchange rate effect been neutral, the tyre maker estimates that net sales would have increased 9.3 per cent year-on-year. Nevertheless, Hille Korhonen, president and chief executive officer of Nokian Tyres, referred to the result as “a good start of the year.”
Sales within the Tire division at Continental failed to reach the previous year’s level during the first three months of 2018. Tire division sales declined 4.4 per cent to 2.64 billion euros during the quarter, however Continental calculates that they would have risen 1.0 per cent had exchange-rate effects and changes in the scope of consolidation not influenced the result.
Cooper Tire & Rubber reports achieving net sales of US$601 million in the first quarter of 2018, a 6.5 per cent decrease on a year earlier. The tyre maker states that net sales were negatively impacted by $39 million of lower unit volume and $20 million of unfavourable price and mix, partially offset by $17 million of favourable foreign currency impact.
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has reported net sales of 466.79 billion yen in the first ninth months of 2017 – a new record for this period. Of this figure, 333.13 billion yen was generate by sales of tyres (excluding Alliance Tyre Group operations, which are included in the firm’s accounts following the business’ acquisition in September 2016). Therefore, profit attributable to owners of parent increased 96.4 per cent over the same period of the previous year, to 16.7 billion yen, on a 39.7 per cent increase in operating income, to 26.4 billion yen.
Raw materials supplier Solvay has announced increased sales and profits in its second quarter 2017 results, with net sales of 3 billion euros (US$3.5 billion), up 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2016.
Leading Italian brake maker Brembo reports that its revenues increased 10.1 per cent to 1,262.4 million euros in the first half of 2017. During the same period pre-tax profits (EBITDA) grew 12.8 per cent to 255.5 million euros. EBITDA margin was over 20 per cent.
Although its revenues remained at roughly the same level as a year earlier, Cooper Tire & Rubber experienced a 46.2 per cent year-on-year drop in operating profit during the first quarter of 2017. The largest contributor to this unfavourable result was raw material costs which, net of price and mix, removed $42 million from the result.
Key preliminary data for Continental’s 2016 financial year has been published, and this shows an increase in both sales and EBIT margin. Reported sales rose three per cent year-on-year to around €40.5 billion, and adjusted EBIT margin amounted to some 10.7 per cent. Upon announcing these results today, Continental wrote that the company “comfortably achieved” its annual targets as adjusted in October 2016.
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. first half 2016 profits declined 49.3 per cent, to 8.2 billion yen. Yokohama reports that the fall resulted from a 37.9 per cent decline in operating income, to 15.7 billion yen, on a 9.5 per cent decline in net sales, to 268.1 billion yen. The Japanese tyre manufacturer put the negative performance down to “a unit decline in Japanese vehicle production, weakening demand and declining prices in Yokohama’s principal product sectors, and the appreciation of the yen”.
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