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Kaizaki To Resign As Bridgestone President

The US recall of Firestone tyres has claimed its latest victim, as Yoichiro Kaizaki, president and CEO of the Bridgestone corporation in Japan, is to resign. The resignation is regarded by many as an admission of poor handling of the public relations side of the recall. From the beginning, Bridgestone/Firestone has been criticised for its mis-handling of the situation and the president of the American company, Masatoshi Ono, was replaced by John Lampe. The recall problem began last August, but it was not until one month later that Mr. Kaizaki first commented on the situation, promising total support for the Firestone brand and trying to link the Ford Explorer with accidents, denying that the problem was solely down to the tyres. Mr. Kaizaki’s replacement will be Shigeo Watanabe (58) who is a senior managing director at Bridgestone, and who has a strong engineering background. His appointment is expected to be ratified at a shareholders’ meeting on March 29th. Mr. Kaizaki will continue to remain at Bridgestone as a full-time adviser to the board of directors.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Self-Rescue Plan For Kumho

Kumho Industrial, parent company of, among others, Kumho Tires, is currently overwhelmed with debt, due largely to the performance of is Asiana Airlines subsidiary. The company has formulated a self-rescue plan, which involves raising money through selling shares in the tyre company. Few details are publicly available, but it is believed that two foreign financial institutions (one from Hong Kong, the other from the USA) have taken a shareholding worth US$ 1.2 billion in the tyre manufacturer, which will continue to run with the same management. The plan also involves Kumho selling off one of its three petrochemical plants.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Legal Action Threatened In Poland Against Michelin

Press reports say that financial investors in Stomil Olsztyn, the Polish tyre maker, are threatening to take Michelin to court over alleged abuse of the rights of minority shareholders. There is a shareholders meeting, at which the disaffected investors are set to demand the appointment of an independent auditor to look into the financial links between Stomil and Michelin. Failing this, legal action will be taken, says the investors group.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Sales Down And Net Loss For Titan In 3rd Quarter

Titan International’s financial figures for the third quarter have been released. Turnover was $100.5 million, compared with $119.8 m for the same period last year. Titan recorded a net loss for the quarter of $9.5 m (Q3 2000: $7.4 m). The net loss for the year to date was $13.3 m, compared to a net profit for YTD last year of $12.5 m. President and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr. was optimistic that Titan would turn the corner next year, pointing to the end of the 40-month strike at the Des Moines plant and the gaining of a $45 million military contract as positive factors.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Rate Goodyear Shares A “Buy”

Despite the admission of chairman and CEO Samir G. Gibara that Goodyear’s 4Q results were “disappointing”, some financial analysts have recommended the company’s shares as a “buy”. The results were better than forecast, plus the analysts are confident that Goodyear will start to turn things around before long.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Third Quarter Results For Cooper

Cooper Tire & Rubber has reported financial figures for the third quarter. Turnover was down 6 per cent compared with 3Q last year ($791 million against $844 million). Operating profit was $46 million (3Q 2000 – $60 m) and net income $14.4 m ($23.4 m). For the first nine months of this year, Cooper’s sales totalled $2.4 billion and net income was $36 million. These figures were down 7 per cent and 62 per cent respectively on figures for the same period last year. Cooper has embarked on a restructuring programme designed to save up to $30 million annually and $4 million was saved during the third quarter.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

2000 Figures From Nokian

Nokian Tyres has released financial results for last year. Net sales were 398.5 m Euro, 23.5 per cent higher than 1999. Allowing for acquisitions made during the year, the figure was 359.8 m Euro, or 11.5 per cent higher. Operating profit was 39.4 m Euro (1999: 42.1 m), affected by a 1.7 m Euro loss incurred by the tyre retail chain. Net profit was 19.8 m Euro (1999: 25.7 m).

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

“Break Even” Forecast For South Pacific Tyres

Pacific Dunlop Chairman John Ralph told shareholders at the company’s AGM that joint venture company South Pacific Tyres could return to a break even position by the end of the financial year. Earlier this year, 890 jobs were lost at SPT as the company restructured in a bid to cut losses, blamed on an influx of cheap tyres from overseas.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Detention Order For GT Tycoon

Reports in the Straits Times claim that a 20 day detention order has been issued against Gajah Tunggal President Sjamsul Nursalim on money-swindling charges. There has been speculation that the move, which is one of a number against businessmen, might be politically motivated. A separate report asks whether the group will have to sell off assets to repay debts.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Maker Reduces Share In Car Manufacturer

Michelin on Thursday reduced a long held 3.8% share in the French auto manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën to 1%. The tyre manufacturer sold 1.27 million PSA shares which is estimated nearly 420 million Euro. The transaction will have positive effects on the financial structure of the company, Michelin announced.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

ETRA-Conference In Leipzig

A year ago, the conference of the European Tyre Recycling Association (ETRA) was held in Schwerin, dealing with the present situation and future perspectives of scrap tyre disposal in Germany. Many questions and problems that were left unanswered in 1999 were also discussed at the following conference in Leipzig, which took place at the beginning of last December. Also this time there were few new answers to be found concerning the well-known problems in this area. Why is it so difficult to solve these problems connected with the recycling business? Some answers: the participants in this market are very diverse – and so are the individual aims. In addition, the market situation for recycled scrap tyres is still not the best, and new ideas for sensible and economical applications are few and far between at the moment. Even if they exist, they may still be blocked in many cases, e.g. the use of rubber in road surfaces. On the other hand there is a requirement for European quality standards for products which are already distributed. Furthermore, the knowledge of some companies in this sector is quite limited: it is either the tyre-, disposal- or the marketing-know how that is missing. In many cases the financial backing for new projects is insufficient. Not to mention a number of scandals concerning illegal landfills, which has negatively influenced public opinion about this business sector. Finally the serious market participants, as well as their association ETRA, have run up against a wall of disinterest on the part of the state and the tyre manufacturers.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Financial Times Report – Bridgestone Falls From Global List

The UK newspaper Financial Times has published its annual list of the world’s 500 largest companies, ranked by market capitalisation. The only tyre company to appear last year was Bridgestone, at number 300. The company does not make this year’s global top 500. Among Europe’s top 500 are the following tyre companies, with their positions. Michelin (301) Pirelli (242) and Continental (479). Mention should be made too of Sabanci Holdings, the ultimate parent of Lassa/Brisa, which appears at number 331 in Europe.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Show A Little Respect

A survey among 720 chief executives worldwide, conducted by the Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers, lists the world’s most respected companies. There are no tyre companies in the top fifty and the only mention of a tyre manufacturer is of Michelin, who was placed equal sixth in a separate section headed ‘The World’s Most Respected Engineering Companies’.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Turnover Up, Net Earnings Down For Marangoni

Italian tyre and retreading group Marangoni has revealed its financial results for last year. Turnover rose by almost 10 per cent to 264.5 million Euro, but net earnings plummeted by just over 76 per cent to 1.79 million Euro. There were mixed sales performances from the different divisions: new tyre sales were 70 m Euro (+18.3 per cent), retreading material sales 90.8 m Euro (+7 per cent) and retreaded tyre sales were 63.1 m Euro (+12.8 per cent). It is indicative of the state of the retreading industry that sales of equipment used for retreading and recycling were 6 m Euro; down by over 14 per cent. Marangoni cited increased raw material costs as the main reason for the fall in profits.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Kaizaki Makes A Point

Yoichiro Kaizaki, in a circular letter to Bridgestone management, has made it clear, that the sum of up to 50 bn $ claim for damages referred to by some American attorneys is totally false. American subsidiary Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has already made, according to Kaizaki, an initial charge of 450 million US-$ for the tire recall itself and has now pledged an additional reserve of 450 million US-$. This should be in accordance with what all involved counsels believe will be the maximum cost for the American subsidiary. There is no financial danger for Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. Obviously it is a question of American lawyers trying to increase public pressure on Bridgestone Japan with the intention of talking up the claims for damages in order to encourage an out-of-court settlement. Kaizaki has countered this by saying that from now on every baseless attempt to do this will immediately be discussed in public debate.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors