Michelin has invested in a wind turbine electricity system at its Dundee facility. Two giant turbines, each 400 ft high will be operational as of next February and will provide around a third of the factory’s annual power demands.
In a company statement the manufacturer announced that contracts are being finalised with the developer, Ecotricity, and installation will begin within the next few months. The new turbines will generate 8 million kwh of power.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Marc O Voorhees as vice president of finance for North America. Voorhees comes to Goodyear from Eastman Kodak Company, where he was most recently operations manager, Digital & Film Imaging Systems European Region based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Continental AG chief executive, Manfred Wennemer, plans to raise tyre prices between 3-8 per cent in the fourth quarter of this financial year, various news sources have reported. The increases “will take place in the last quarter of this year, most likely in November,” Wennemer told the magazine the German Autowoche magazine.
He also said that the price increases are likely to take place somewhat earlier in the US. “It depends upon the product and the market. The way things look now, the price increases are likely to be a bit less in Europe than in North America, where we really get hit because oil is traded in US dollars so we won’t get any benefit from the strong euro there,” Mr Wennemer told the AFX news agency.
Recycling has not only become more important to the public, but to the tyre industry too. Tyre recycling has a lucrative future, and tyre shredding is fast becoming a money-spinner for those companies involved. The choice of tyre shredding and recycling equipment manufacturers and distributors is growing, as is the range of casing collection services throughout the industry.
“However, it is one thing to realise the potential of this market but quite something else to actually set up a business that will evolve into a successful and lucrative service,” says Bob Batchford of RJB County Contractors. This is why the company has recently established a new division within the business, RJB Consultancy, to provide a service to both new and established businesses on how to achieve financial reward from tyre recycling.
Deutsche Bank analysts are convinced that Continental’s US passenger car division has made losses of up to 200 million euros last year. The closure of Conti’s Mayfield facility was expected to have cost up to 120 million euros alone. Financial experts have abandoned hope for a noticeable and continuous growth. During 2005 the tyre manufacturer is expected to come up with an annual loss of about 100 million euros, says Deutsche Bank, meaning that the shutdown of the Mayfield factory didn’t have its expected positive affect.
UK garage services chain, Mr Clutch Autocentres, is set to undergo expansion after trials of its new franchise model have been heralded a “great success.”
Changes in the motor maintenance and repair sector led company directors to re-examine its positioning in the market and completely overhaul its franchise model.
Financial director Trevor Steel explains the decision: “Over the past few years, VOSA has tightened up on regulations governing MOT test centres and appears to be clamping down hard on those rogue back street garages it sees as flouting the rules.
Trelleborg’s board of directors has appointed chief financial officer Bo Jacobsson as first executive vice president of the Trelleborg Group. The new appointment will be effective as of 1 October, 2005 in conjunction with Peter Nilsson assuming the position of new president and CEO.
“With his broad experience of management and administration in major companies, and the in-depth knowledge he has acquired of the Trelleborg Group over many years, Bo is a vital sounding board for us all within group management,” says Peter Nilsson.
Beru AG’s preliminary first quarter figures show the company increased its total sales revenues in the first quarter by 14.5 per cent to 97.9 million euros. The company attributed the strong first quarter results to new product “start-ups” in the core division of Diesel Cold Start Technology and in the youngest division of Electronics and Sensor Technology, which includes TPMS sensors.
According to executive board chairman, Marco von Maltzan, the group now plans to achieve growth in sales revenues at a high single-digit percentages in its current financial year. The goal is for operating profit (EBIT) to increase at the same rate as sales revenues. Beru considers itself well positioned with its strong product pipeline, but expects weaker growth in the coming quarters in view of only moderate growth in demand for automobiles combined with an increasingly competitive environment and more aggressive pricing.
(Akron/Tire Review) The US Securities and Exchange has informed Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co that it is recommending civil and/or administrative enforcement action against the company in connection with Goodyear’s previously acknowledged accounting problems.
This “Wells Notice” has been issued in connection with the SEC’s investigation into accounting matters included in the company’s restatement of financial results, announced in October 2003, and related public filings. Wells Notices have also been issued to a former Goodyear CFO and a former chief accounting officer.
With the notice, the SEC is claiming Goodyear violated the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 relating to the maintenance of books, records and internal accounting controls, the establishment of disclosure controls and procedures, and the periodic SEC filing requirements.
Recipients of “Wells Notices” have the opportunity to respond to the SEC staff before the staff make a formal recommendation on whether any action should be brought by the agency.
Rubber compound manufacturer and tyre retreader Goodway Integrated Industries Bhd expects revenue to grow by 40 per cent, or about 10 million euros, in two years, upon acquiring a 100 per cent equity interest in Sabah-based retreading company, Big Wheel Holdings Sdn Bhd for 5.3 million euros, according to Business Times (Malaysia). With Big Wheel’s acquisition, Goodway will start producing between 4,200 and 4,500 pieces of solid tyres next year.
Michelin’s half year financial results, published last week, include provision for the cost of reimbursing ticket holders at this year’s US F1 Grand Prix at Indianapolis, when seven Michelin-shod teams withdrew from the race. The cost, estimated at around 12 million euros, has been accounted for in the operating income figure before non-recurring items, says the company.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has revised upwards its forecasts for its half year financial results, which are due to be published this Friday. The reasons for the upbeat revision are better-than-expected tyre sales at home and overseas, plus benefits gained from price rises during the period.
(India/Rubber Asia) Leading Indian tyre maker, Apollo Tyres Ltd, reported a net profit of 166.9 million rupees (£2.2 million) for the first quarter of the current financial year, ended 30 June, up 13.6 million rupees (£180,000) compared with the same period last year.
The speculation that Formula One might soon be under new ownership was correct, but contrary to reports, the sport will not be falling into Far Eastern hands, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
Bernie Ecclestone yesterday dismissed talk of a $1 billion bid from a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, Hutchison Whampoa. “I spoke to Hutchison. They sent a boy to do a man’s job. We are not interested in selling to them. We get offers like this every day, but it is not what we want for the future of F1,” Mr Ecclestone told the newspaper.
Industry analysts Plimsoll Publishing asks, if the market suffers a recession this year, which companies in the Tyre Manufacturers and Distributors sector will be most affected and which couldn’t care less? It also asks which companies are already at risk and will use any talk of a slow down to bury bad news? The new publication (Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis, Tyre Manufacturers & distributors 3rd Edition 2005) examines the current financial state of the top 240 companies in the sector and the study has revealed four distinct profiles of company behaviour.
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