The European replacement tyre market displayed a “pronounced weakness” in the four quarter of last year, says Continental Corporation, however during the 2014 fiscal year the company as a whole managed to grow year-on-year, and achieved an annual turnover of approximately €34.5 billion. The company’s adjusted EBIT margin exceeded 11 per cent.
Football magnates such as Arsenal’s second-largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov and Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich may have lost nearly losing $809 million (£516 million) $450 million (£287 million) already with the collapse of the rouble, but Pirelli’s Marco Tronchetti Provera remains optimistic about the tyre maker’s chances in Russia.
While climatic conditions affected sales at Delticom in the three months to 30 September, it was its 2013-acquired Tirendo operation that wreaked havoc on the bottom line.
Talk of a “three-phase realignment” and workforce downsizing dominated the release of Lanxess AG’s third quarter 2014 results this month. The specialty chemicals company says it is making “rapid progress” with its realignment programme and aims to achieve annual savings of €150 million by the end of 2016 via the implementation of the first realignment phase, which culls the company’s global headcount by around 1,000. Half these reductions will occur in Germany, where Lanxess is based, and mainly affect the company’s administrative and service units, marketing and sales, along with research and development.
India’s JK Tyre & Industries Ltd has reported consolidated net profit of Rs 755.9 million (£7.8 million) for the three months to 30 September 2014, the second quarter of the company’s current financial year. This result represents a year-on-year increase of 18.1 per cent. The company achieved a consolidated turnover of Rs 18.7 billion (£193.5 million), up 3.6 per cent from the second quarter of the previous financial year.
North America’s largest manufacturer of aluminium car and truck rims, Superior Industries International, slid into the red in the third quarter of the 2014 financial year. The company reports a net loss of US$2.4 million due to quarter expenses of $6.9 million, which were largely associated with the upcoming closure of Superior’s factory in Rogers, Arkansas. Net sales for the third quarter decreased eight per cent to $176.4 million. Third quarter unit shipments fell 11 per cent from the corresponding prior year period to 2.6 million units versus 2.9 million units in 2013.
For the third quarter of the current financial year, Toyo Tire & Rubber reports achieving “record highs: for net sales, operating income, ordinary income and net income.
For the nine months ending 30 September 2014, Sumitomo Rubber Industries reports net sales of 575.3 billion yen (£3.2 billion), a result 8.2 per cent higher than in the corresponding period of 2013. Operating income amounted to 49.1 billion yen (£269.3 million), a year-on-year increase of 14.2 per cent, while net income shot up 28.2 per cent to 31.7 billion yen (£174.2 million). From this total, net sales within the company’s tyre business rose 8.6 per cent to 500.7 billion yen (£2.7 billion) and operating income rose 14.6 per cent to 44.1 billion (£242.3 million).
On 10 November Bridgestone reported group net sales of 2.665 trillion yen (£14.586 billion; 18.542 billion euros; US$23.137 billion) for the first nine months of 2014. Sales were up 2.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2013. Operating income amounted to 342.468 billion yen (£1.873 billion; 2.382 billion euros; $2.970 billion), up 7.4 per cent. Net income totaled 225.670 billion yen (£1.234 billion; 1.569 billion euros; $1.957 billion), up a strong 15.2 per cent compared with the first nine months of 2013.
Net profit went up 17.5 per cent in the second quarter of Apollo Tyres Ltd’s 2014-15 financial year, the company reported on 10 November. This positive result was achieved despite a slight decrease in net income from operations, and reflects a growth in exports from India and healthy performance in Europe.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd net sales increased 4.2 per cent in the first three quarters of 2014 to 429.8 billion yen (£2.369 billion; 3.015 billion euros; US$3.768 billion). Operating income increased 6.5 per cent, to 31.9 billion yen (£175.878 million; 223.792 million euros; $279.670 million); and net income increased 27.4 per cent, to 24.9 billion yen (£137.269 million; 174.673 million euros; $218.329 million). According to the company, all three of those totals were Yokohama’s highest ever in the nine-month period from January to September.
After delivering investors a net income of exactly no cents per share in the third quarter of 2013, this year Cooper Tire & Rubber exceeded analyst estimates to deliver US$0.77 per share, $0.05 higher than the consensus estimate. In reporting these much stronger third-quarter results, the company pointed out that its financial results from a year earlier were impacted by “a number of unusual circumstances,” including strike action and other issues at the Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company Ltd (CCT) joint-venture operation in China, which resulted in lower production and shipments; higher costs and lower volume associated with shipping inefficiencies related to ERP system implementations; and costs related to the then-pending acquisition by Apollo Tyres, a deal that was terminated at the end of the year. “As a result, many of the year-over-year comparisons are not representative of the business under normal conditions.”
Although profits are up at Pirelli so far this year and revenues are down, during the third quarter of 2014 the situation reversed itself. Revenues grew 3.0 per cent to €1,541.8 million in the three months between 1 June and 30 September; highlights of the quarter include a continuation of top-line growth continued in Europe and the NAFTA regions, and an acceleration in Asia Pacific. With year-on-year growth of 17 per cent, the Italian tyre maker outperformed the market’s 12 per cent growth. EBIT increased 1.9 per cent during the third quarter to €203.5 million, with 0.1 per cent shaved off the EBIT margin, which was 13.2 per cent for the period. Net income declined 1.7 per cent year-on-year to €106.2 million.
Following what it calls a “solid third quarter”, Continental Corporation has confirmed its forecast for the 2014 fiscal year. The tyre and automotive systems manufacturer reported net sales of €8.7 billion in the period between 1 June and 30 September, a year-on-year increase of 3.8 per cent. EBIT decreased 28.0 per cent to €637.8 million in the three-month period, with EBIT margin declining from 10.6 per cent in Q3 2013 to 7.4 per cent, however net income rose 14.1 per cent to €495.1 million. Earnings per share amounted to €2.47, up from €2.17 a year earlier.
Following weak performance in Russia and the CIS region in the third quarter of 2014, Nokian Tyres has revised its operating profit projection for the full year. The Finnish company now estimates operating profit of €300 million to €320 million for 2014, considerably lower than last year’s €385.5 million. Net sales, as per previous guidance, are also expected to fall compared with 2013.
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