The Michelin share price dipped by more than four per cent following the announcement of the company’s results for the quarter ending 30 September. By 3:30pm Paris time, Michelin shares were trading for €76.47, down 4.11 per cent on the opening price.
Now that Maurice Taylor is making peace with France and workers in the country’s tyre sector, it appears Titan International’s French connection is not its only European interest. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that Titan is “weighing bids for three additional plants in Europe in deals that would take its sales in the region from US$750 million in 2012 to $1.3 billion.”
India’s Ceat Limited has reported a nine per cent growth in year-on-year revenues for the quarter ending 30 September 2013. On a standalone basis, revenues in this second quarter of the company’s financial year rose to Rs 12.63 billion (£127.6 million). Pre-tax profit rose from Rs 41 million in the second quarter of 2012 to Rs 1.1 billion (£11.1 million) in the most recent quarter. EBITDA for the second quarter of the 2014 financial year stood at 13.1 per cent, compared with 6.7 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
At its board meeting on 24 October, the directors of JK Tyre & Industries Ltd approved a RS 14.3 billion (£144.5 million) expansion of its Chennai factory in eastern India.
The September report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders makes good reading for the UK car industry, as output has reached a level not seen since 2007-08. In the rolling 12 months since October 2012, the UK has manufactured more than 1.5 million, achieving a five-year high.
Compared with the material Facebook considers fit for viewing it is pretty tame stuff, but a video published by TyreSafe and the Highways Agency on the latter’s YouTube channel illustrates very graphically what can happen when tyre maintenance is neglected. The clip is one of a series uploaded in conjunction with October’s Tyre Safety Month and gives a motorway camera view of the moment a tyre fails on the front of an HGV, sending it into the central reservation at speed.
A Delaware Chancery Court judge has turned down Apollo Tyres’ bid to have Cooper Tire & Rubber’s lawsuit against it dismissed. Judge Sam Glasscock III stated during a telephone hearing that both parties should “prepare for trial” if they can’t settle their differences alone.
Are investors experiencing a case of schadenfreude towards the latest Apollo/Cooper developments? The Apollo Tyres share price took a nose dive following the announcement of plans to acquire Cooper Tire & Rubber, falling from a 52-week high of Rs 101.5 on 8 May to a 52-week low of Rs 54.6 on 21 June. Now, buoyed by speculation that the deal may fall apart, the Apollo share price looks set to rise.
Every year, Bridgestone releases a new Mid-Term Management Plan. Each covers a five-year period and incorporates rolling changes. In announcing its 2013MTP, Bridgestone says the latest plan reflects changes in the operating environment since the formulation of the 2012 mid-term plan and incorporates revisions and additional strategies and actions “as deemed necessary.” Amongst the themes covered by the new plan is the restructuring of Bridgestone’s tyre business strategic business units (SBUs).
Bridgestone has presented Rugby fast-fitter TW Tyres with an award recognising the company’s 35 years in business. TW Tyres, based in Paynes Lane, and owner Mike Furner were presented with a cut-glass accolade from the manufacturer to recognise decades of hard work in the town.
Titan International has announced the closing of its offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 6.875 per cent Senior Secured Notes, due 2020.
Titan intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to finance the purchase of the Company’s 7.875 per cent Senior Secured Notes due 2017 validly tendered pursuant to a tender offer and consent solicitation which it commenced on September 23, 2013, and to pay all consent payments, accrued interest, costs and expenses associated therewith.
Sea freight rates are currently on a downward trend that looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future, says freight forwarding specialist Rob Shelley of Maritime Cargo Services. According to industry feedback, this year’s peak season from Asia to Northern Europe got off to a slow start in July, and remained unconvincing even up to the beginning of September. Exports from Asia to Northern Europe in the second quarter were only the same as during the same period last year, and year-on-year growth in the first seven months of 2013 reached just one per cent.
Nokian Tyres’ management has issued a profit warning stating that second half revenues are likely to be lower than expected. Third quarter sales are said to be stable year-on-year, which are somewhat lower than some analysts’ projections (Deutsche Bank for example had said +10 per cent).
Within the next two to three months, JK Tyre & Industries intends to get is RS 10 billion Chennai plant (£100 million) expansion project underway. When work is complete plant capacity will be double the current level, making it one of the company’s main export facilities.
Indian tyre maker MRF Ltd intends to double capacity at its plant near Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
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