financials Archives - Page 94 of 134 - Tyrepress

Posts

Goodyear to Report Second Quarter Earnings

Goodyear will report their financial results from the second quarter 2008 before markets open on 31 July on its investor website. After the announcement, the company will host an investor conference call at 10.30, with CEO Robert J. Keegan, CFO W. Mark Schmitz and senior vice president, finance and strategy Darren R. Wells participating.

The call can be accessed by members of the media and interested parties on the day live, or with a taped replay to be posted at 15.00.

15th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Report: Bridgestone to Announce 26% Profit Fall at Year End

Bridgestone Corp is expected to announced a sharp fall in group operating profits as a result of rising rubber prices. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily financial newspaper, Bridgestone could announce a fall of up to 26 per cent in its operating profits compared with the last financial year.

New sources now expect Bridgestone’s group operating profit for the year ending 31 December to fall to about 185 billion yen ($1.74 billion), down from the company’s initial estimate of 195 billion yen. Thomson Reuters estimates put the analyst consensus forecast for Bridgestone’s operating profit this year at about 189 billion yen.

14th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Shares Plummet, Michelin’s drop

Shares in Continental AG have fallen by the most significant margin in seven years – 11 September 2001 – in Frankfurt, leading to the downgrading of the stock by Merrill Lynch. The decline of up to 8.1 per cent today, report financial news sources, sees the stock plummet to 53.65 euros. For the year, Continental’s stock is down 40 per cent, its value now down at 8.7 billion euros. The fall comes as a result of a variety of challenges to automotive stocks including the rapid ascent of raw materials costs and the decline in demand from traditional markets.

Concurrently, French competitor Michelin faced a similarly difficult day on the markets, with shares declining by 5.9 per cent in Paris. Overall, Bloomberg’s Europe Auto Parts & Equipment Index – including the two manufacturers – is down in 2008 by 31 per cent, having included the not inconsiderable hit from today’s declines for its two biggest members, being down 4 per cent for the day.

11th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Complete Speed Acquisition

Financial news sources report that Pirelli have acquired the 19.19 per cent of Speed SpA necessary to complete the full purchase of the company.

Speed owns a 38.9 per cent stake in Pirelli – the only stake not already owned by the Italian manufacturer itself. The acquisition of Speed for the grand sum of 835.5 million euros – as announced back in March – therefore completes the repurchase of shares in Pirelli Tyre.

9th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Pyrolysis Plant Boosts Octagon Profits

Malaysia’s Octagon Consolidated Bhd, operator of what is said to currently be the world’s largest tyre pyrolysis facility, expects its green energy division to contribute as much as 30 per cent to both company turnover and pre-tax profit in the financial year ending October. The company commissioned the 120 tonne per day plant in May, after more than four years of development.

3rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US State Adds Tax Break to Keep BFNAT Centre

The US state of Ohio has granted some $18 million in tax breaks in an effort to convince Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire to keep its technical centre in Akron. In the deal, BFNAT would pay a reduced state commercial activity tax for 15 years in exchange for a commitment that the tyremaker would remain in Akron for at least 18 years.

The city of Akron, the state and Summit County have been working to assemble a financial incentive package to help keep BFNAT’s 600-employee technical center in Akron. The tiremaker is also considering a site in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, south of its Nashville headquarters, for a new facility.

1st July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Private Equity Acquisition Unlikely, Say DB Analysts

Shares in Continental AG have apparently declined again after rising by more than seven per cent on June 25, the result, say traders, of renewed market talk of interest in a private equity bid. The German financial newspaper named Boersen-Zeitung, Banco Santander SA, ING Groep NV and Deutsche Bank AG as the favoured contenders for bidding. The company has, however, declined to offer any information on the issue. “We don’t comment on speculation,” said Conti spokesman Hannes Boekhoff.

27th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Tire Reducing North American Production

A decline in tyre demand and projected shortages of some raw materials have led Cooper Tire & Rubber to announce on June 23 that production in its North American facilities would be reduced during the second quarter of this financial year. The lowering of production during the quarter will, says the company, cost an estimated US$12 to 14 million.

24th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone European Prices to Increase

Bridgestone Europe NV/SA has announced price increases on all of its tyre brands and categories. The price rise will apply in all European countries, however the UK and Northern Ireland will be affected more than those countries in the euro zone. Increases here will be in the range of between 8 and 12 per cent, as opposed to between 5 and 8 per cent for most of Europe. The new prices will take effect in each market in coming few months.

“Even after we increased our prices earlier this year, the raw material prices continue to increase beyond our expectation,” commented According to Gerry Duffy, vice president Sales & Marketing of Bridgestone Europe. “The recent increase in the cost of commodities such as oil, natural rubber, iron ore and others heavily affects the costs of almost all the raw materials we consume. As its financial impact is so huge and hard to offset only by our internal efforts, we have to recover some of those costs by this price increase.”

13th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Licensed to Produce ContiTread Retreading Materials

Marangoni Group and Continental AG have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see Continental transfer the production and marketing of ContiTread pre-cure treads. “Marangoni and Continental have been working for years in various fields together successfully. This cooperation is another important and complementary facet,” said Eckhard Wilanek, Continental’s Managing Director of Fleet & Retread Business. No details of the financial side of the arrangement have been released, but both companies hope to benefit from faster growth in the global marketplace – Maragoni in the retreading segment and Continental in the new tyre business.

11th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US Motorists Driving Less

A sharp drop in the amount US motorists are driving, coupled with continued raw material price pressures has led financial analysts to lower US manufacturers earning predictions. Estimated vehicle miles travelled on all US roads declined 4.3 per cent year-on-year in March, according to the US Federal Highway Administration. The drop is apparently the steepest in the history of the data. This coupled with concerns about the effect of increasing raw material costs led Detusche Bank analysts to write: “In the near term, the combination of hyper-inflating raw material costs and weak demand will present major challenges for the tyre industry.”

“While we continue to see robust pricing behaviour within the industry, with price increases of “up to 8 per cent” having been recently announced by Goodyear (effective June 1) and Cooper Tire…we note that pricing may not completely offset raw material cost inflation in every quarter.”

3rd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti On Track to Appoint New CFO by Autumn

A replacement for outgoing Continental AG chief financial officer Alan Hippe is still expected to be appointed by autumn. Conti supervisory board head Hubertus von Grünberg confirmed the company’s plans when speaking with the Germany Handelsblatt financial newspaper, and added that CEO Manfred Wennemer and the supervisory board now need to reach a decision on candidates already interviewed.

With Hippe taking over Continental’s passenger car tyre and ContiTech divisions, von Grünberg said the company would prefer the next CFO to be drawn from within industry ranks, but it is also in talks with bankers and is considering internal candidates.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

SRF Buys Thai Tyre Cord Company

SRF Limited has acquired Thailand-based Thai Baroda Industries Limited (TBIL) for 1 billion rupees (£11.8 million). According to the Calcutta News, TBIL has an annual production capacity of 12,000 tonnes of dipped nylon tyre cord fabric. Ashish Bharat Ram, managing director SRF Limited, said in an official statement: “Post financial restructuring and takeover of the company management, we are confident that we will able to turn the company in very short time.”

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Report: Leading UK Tyre Companies Face Tough Times

A new report has found that the UK’s largest 50 tyre companies now control 94 per cent of the market, an increase from 90 per cent 2 years ago. As a result, these major companies are said to be “fighting each other headlong in a battle for market share.”

The report, produced by Plimsoll Publishing, found that these levels of competitiveness are having an effect on the financial stability of some businesses. Of the 50 Tyre Manufacturers & Distributors companies surveyed: 15 of the companies are showing no sales increases at all; 13 are selling less than they were 2 years ago; 26 companies have failed to increase sales at the same rate as their investment; and 26 companies increased their debts simply to hold their place in the market.

28th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bosch Expects ‘Positive Developments’ In 2008

The Bosch Group says its sales revenue rose by six per cent in its 2007 financial and calendar year to 46.3 billion euros. The firm says it hit its sales and earning targets and expects 2008 will bring ‘generally positive developments’ for its business despite a less favourable economic environment. Bosch says it will plan to spend 2.9 billion euros to expand its Asian activities over the next two years. In Germany the growth of its Abstatt engineering centre will create up to 800 new jobs.

16th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors