Bridgestone has announced its consolidated business and financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 December, 2008. The company commented in its report on the “challenging operating environment,” with its major markets in Asia, the USA and Europe declining over the course of the fourth quarter. This environment is illustrated by the worldwide 5 per cent decrease in tyre segment sales, down from 2,756 billion yen (20.54 billion pounds sterling; 1 GBP: 134 JPY) in 2007, to 2,629 billion yen (£20.05 billion), an effect in part, the company says, of the exchange impact of the stronger Japanese yen and a decline in unit sale. However, bottom line increases also hit hard, as Bridgestone tyre lost 52 per cent of its operating income; down to 92.7 billion yen in 2008 from 195 billion in 2007.

Bridgestone’s statement said that it “worked to maximise its sales momentum by introducing appealing new products worldwide, while at the same time improving and expanding strategic production sites around the world in support of respective product domains, particularly those that have been identified as strategic and important to the company’s future growth.” The fourth quarter’s decline in global automotive production and sluggish demand in the replacement market went some way to affecting the drop in sales in all three major markets.