Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed Barbara B. Gould (52) as director of investor relations from September 1st, succeeding Laura K. Thompson, who will become director, finance – consumer tyres for the North American business unit. Gould has a history of investor relations and as a financial analyst; in her new role she will report to Robert W. Tieken, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc has announced several key appointments to its Global Leadership Team. The following individuals will report directly to Curtis J. Clawson, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer: James A. Yost has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Yost retired from Ford Motor Company in 2001 after serving as Vice President of Corporate Strategy. Kenneth A. Hiltz will continue in his role as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO). He will continue to play a key role in the development and implementation of the Company’s restructuring plan. Brian O’Loughlin has been appointed as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Mr. O’Loughlin joins the Company from Revlon, Inc., where he served as CIO. Edward W. Kopkowski has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President of Operational Excellence. Mr. Kopkowski previously served as Founder and President of Kopko Associates, Ltd., a consulting firm. “These talented professionals will bring tremendous strength to our organisation and have a major, positive impact on our global business,” said Mr. Clawson.
A report in the Financial Times based on information from the World Markets Research Centre reveals that the most efficient car factory in Europe is the Nissan plant in Sunderland, UK, with a production of 95 vehicles per employee. Equal second are Ford’s factory at Saarlouis, Germany and Toyota’s plant at Burnaston, UK, with 87 vehicles per employee. However, no European or American car factory makes it into the world’s top ten most efficient plants. Of these, the top nine are in Japan and the tenth in Korea. The world’s most efficient car factory is Mitsubishi’s plant at Mitsushima, which produces 180 vehicles per employee.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company said it has become aware of an unsolicited “mini tender” offer by TRC Capital Corp. to purchase up to five million shares of its common stock, or approximately 3 percent of Goodyear’s total shares outstanding, for $19.50 per share. Goodyear said it expressed no opinion on the unsolicited offer, but advised its shareholders to exercise extreme caution in considering the offer. “Mini tender” offers are not subject to many disclosure, filing and procedural protection requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and are often structured to obtain shares at below market prices. “Mini-tender” offers – tender offers for less than five percent of a company’s stock – have been increasingly used to catch investors off guard. Many investors who hear about mini-tender offers surrender their securities without investigating the offer, assuming that the price offered includes the premium usually present in larger, traditional tender offers. But they later learn that they cannot withdraw from the offer and may end up selling their securities at below-market prices. Goodyear urged its shareholders to review the terms of the “mini tender” offer carefully and to consult with their financial advisors before considering this offer.
In an article in the Financial Times, Sir Nick Scheele, chief operating officer of Ford, said that the company was making progress on the proposed sale of Kwik-Fit. He is reported as saying: “We’re pretty close on Kwik-Fit; you can anticipate an announcement in the medium term.”
Beru AG has published results for the financial year ending 31st March. Sales topped 300 million Euro for the first time (303.1 m Euro, compared to 276.5 m the previous year). After-tax earnings were up 27.7 per cent at 42.4 million Euro (33.2 m last year). The increase was due mainly to growth in diesel cold-start technology and tyre pressure monitoring systems. This latter product group saw sales rise by nearly 60 per cent to 10.7 million Euro.
Michelin North America, Inc., Michelin Retread Technologies, Inc., and Bandag, Incorporated, announced that they have reached a settlement in their ongoing litigation. As a result of the agreement all parties have been dismissed from the litigation. Michelin and Bandag have agreed to dismiss all financial claims against all parties. This agreement brings to a close the trial in the United States District Court in Des Moines, Iowa, that began May 13, 2002.
The Financial Times has published its list of the world’s 500 largest companies, ranked by market capitalisation. No tyre companies appeared on last year’s list and this year’s includes only one tyre company; Bridgestone. The Japanese manufacturer is listed at number 386, with a market cap of US$ 11.826 billion. It is also ranked the 38th largest company in Japan.
An appeals court in the USA has overturned the decision of a lower court granting class-action status to non-injury lawsuits against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone over faulty tyres. The court decided that a class action (with all cases decided on the result of a single trial) would be unmanageable because of the large number of claims and the wide geographic spread. Claims affected by the ruling are for financial compensation only and not those alleging personal injury or death. Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone welcomed the decision.
Tyre pressure monitoring specialist SmarTire has appointed H. C. Wainwright and Co. Inc. (Boston) as the company’s financial advisor. Wainwright was founded in 1868 and is one of the United States’ oldest private, independent investment banking firms. Additionally, SmarTire has completed issuing 750,000 shares to raise 1.31 million dollars. The funds will be used for debt repayment and working capital.
According to the Financial Times, Ford is admitting for the first time that it will face a substantial loss when it disposes of Kwik-Fit. The FT says it has seen documents from Ford’s auditors, warning that the proceeds from any disposal will not be in line with the book value. The UK parent of Kwik-Fit (and other companies such as Jaguar and Aston Martin) – Ford Automotive Holdings – recently filed its year 2000 accounts, which include the first year’s contributions from Kwik-Fit. These show pre-tax losses of 356 m GBP (580 m Euro) on a turnover of 9.42 bn GBP (15.35 bn Euro). 1999’s pre-tax loss was 175 m GBP (285 m Euro) on a turnover of 8.71 bn GBP (14.2 bn Euro).
EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti is to investigate Continental’s decision to switch production to Portugal while closing its Gislaved factory in Sweden. Some sections of the Swedish media have suggested that the move was prompted by EU grants and tax breaks. The Portuguese government said that an EU aid financial package worth 23 million Euro had been approved last summer for the expansion of a Conti factory in northern Portugal. Continental says that overcapacity is responsible for the Gislaved closure and the company says that no significant amount of tyre production has been moved to Portugal.
Stapleton’s Tyre Services, the UK-based wholesaler, has released financial figures for the year 2001. Turnover rose 15 per cent over 2000 to 86 million Pounds (141.15 m Euro) and profit before tax was 1.55 million Pounds (2.5 m Euro). Stapleton’s recently completed the acquisition of rival wholesaler WSTyremasters; a deal which will add another 36 million Pounds (59 million Euro) to annual turnover.
Michelin consolidated net sales for 2001 amounted to 15.775 bn Euro (+2.5 per cent over 2000). The operating profit reached 1.04 bn Euro (-10.5 per cent) and net profit was 314 million Euro (-28.4 per cent). With 6.6 per cent operating profit as a percentage of sales in a very difficult and competitive economic environment, Michelin easily outperformed its two biggest competitors Bridgestone and Goodyear. Bridgestone is still suffering from the consequences of the Firestone recall and Goodyear has reported losses in 2001. In a press conference in Paris Michelin boss Edouard Michelin spoke about the previous business year and Chief Financial Officer Michel Rollier gave detailed figures – also for the various divisions. It was the first time that Michelin has presented the company’s figures in such a major press conference, which was followed by two others in London and New York.
Titan International has published its 2001 financial results. In the fourth quarter, Titan’s net sales were $100.6 million (Q4 2000: $113.4 m). For 2001as a whole, sales were $457.5 m ($543.1 m). The net loss for Q4 was $21.5 m ($8.0 m) and Titan turned in a net loss for the year of $34.8 m, compared to a net income in 2000 of $4.5 m. President and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr. described 2001 as “difficult for all manufacturers.” On the positive side, Titan settled two long-running (39 months and 40 months) labour disputes and received approval to offer agricultural tyres and wheels through the Case New Holland dealership network.
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