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Shredding Mystery Causes Fall In Cooper Shares

Shares in Cooper Tire & Rubber fell dramatically (by as much as 25 per cent at one stage, although they later recovered to 11 per cent down) after reports that someone in the company had shredded documents relating to a personal injury court case against the company. Cooper denies that executives ordered the documents destroyed and blamed “two, low-level, non-management rogue employees” for the destruction of the documents. The case in question results from a fatal accident in 1998. Cooper denies that the tyre in question suffered from a manufacturing defect.

13th May 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

$17.9 Million For Nasser

Former Ford Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser received $17.9 million in compensation last year when he was replaced at the helm of the second-largest automaker amid losses and declining sales.

11th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Earnings Exceed Expectations

The Cooper Tire & Rubber company’s earnings per share for the first quarter of 2002 will be around 35 to 37 cents; significantly more than the previous estimate of 30 cents. This is due to an increase in market share and increased light vehicle production in North America. Full results will be published on April 18.

11th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Shift of Michelin Production Towards Romania

Next month, Michelin will close its truck tyre plant at Burnley (UK) and move the production capacity to Romania where the company took over a local producer several months ago. This move was confirmed by CFO Michel Rollier during the Global Automotive Conference held by Morgan Stanley in New York.Rollier added that the truck tyre business should create an average operating profit between 13 and 14 per cent. In the previous year this had been just 8.8 per cent due to the declining market. – a result which was, in any case, much better than the competitors’ results. Rollier added that Michelin wants to intensify its passenger car tyre engagement in the European high performance sector and to improve its position in the winter tyre segment. Both segments meanwhile have become attractive markets. In the USA Michelin has been able to win market share and has exchanged 2.6 million tyres during the Firestone recall.

28th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Research And Development In The Tyre Business

Each year in spring the schedule of our editorial staff fills with new tyre launches. What is the reasoning behind the development of more and more new tyres? Is it because customers constantly demand new products? Do they really ask for two per cent more grip on wet roads or three per cent more safety on aquaplaning? Hardly. Many surveys show that customers do not care much about their tyres. Sometimes they do not even know the size of the tyre on their car never mind the correct tyre pressure. And although many customers make the decision which tyre to buy after consulting the test results published in the big German magazines, there is no such thing as a “consumer pressure” on the tyre manufacturers to develop new tyres. More often the industry itself maybe is disappointed with the test results and this might then be a motivation create new products. But indisputably, the greatest drive comes from the car manufacturers. They are constantly demanding higher performing tyres for ever higher performing cars. This is the reason why NEUE REIFENZEITUNG visited the research and development departments of several car and tyre manufacturers to get an impression how they are working together, and to follow up the route of a new tyre from the first sketches to the start of the production. Therefore we will focus on these details in an intermittent series starting in this issue with a very general introduction.

18th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

2001 Net Loss For Titan International

Titan International has published its 2001 financial results. In the fourth quarter, Titan’s net sales were $100.6 million (Q4 2000: $113.4 m). For 2001as a whole, sales were $457.5 m ($543.1 m). The net loss for Q4 was $21.5 m ($8.0 m) and Titan turned in a net loss for the year of $34.8 m, compared to a net income in 2000 of $4.5 m. President and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr. described 2001 as “difficult for all manufacturers.” On the positive side, Titan settled two long-running (39 months and 40 months) labour disputes and received approval to offer agricultural tyres and wheels through the Case New Holland dealership network.

21st February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Fall In Profits For Pirelli

Pirelli has announced a 32 per cent fall in operating profits for 2001 to 295 million Euro (2000: 437 m). Revenue was broadly similar at 7.5 billion Euro (7.48 bn). The company blamed a slump in the telecoms cable sector. Pirelli’s shares have been up and down, falling 18 per cent in the past month. Rumours of bad results led to a 4 per cent fall last week, but when the results were published, there was a partial recovery of 1.6 per cent.

12th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Net Sales of Federal Corporation Hit Record High in 2001

Federal Corporation, based in Taiwan, reported that, as a result of the success of its innovative quality ultra high performance tyre products coupled with the outstanding sales performance of its worldwide distribution network, the company grossed over $89,373,000 in 2001. This is an annual sales record for the company and a 13.26 percent increase on the year 2000.

8th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Rearranges Trading Activities

A management buy-out finally helped the Group to divest itself of their trade chain NTS, which has been in the red for some time. It is said that over the last three years only, they had to meet with losses of more than 50 million Euro. And despite of a turnover of more than 200 million Euro, even Vergölst, another trade chain, also failed to avoid considerable losses. In an interview with NEUE REIFENZEITUNG, Dr. Hartmut Wöhler, the Group’s director for trading activities, however assured NEUE REIFENZEITUNG that after last year’s losses of almost a double-digit million sum, this year is ought to see a “black zero”. For Wöhler these unsatisfactory results, amongst others, were due to the repeated management changes which had impacted upon these trading chains over the last 20 years, resulting in a lack of continuity.

1st February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Full Year Results From Bandag

Bandag has announced consolidated net earnings of $17.4 million for the quarter ending 31st December 2001, bringing total net consolidated earnings for the year to $43.8 million, or $2.12 per diluted share on sales of $964.9 million. This compares to 200 net earnings of £60.3 million on sales of $996.1 million. Martin Carver, Bandag’s CEO stated that strong results in the last quarter were offset by performance in offshore operations. He noted that offshore operations continued to experience difficult economic conditions and strong competitive pressures.

29th January 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

First Quarter Results From Amcast

Amcast, the automotive parts manufacturer (aluminium wheels), has reported results for its fiscal 2002 first quarter, which ended on December 2 last year. Sales were down 5 per cent compared with last year, at $131.2 million. The net loss for the quarter was $5.5 million. Sales at Speedline, the company’s European operation, were up 9% on the previous year, benefiting from a strong vehicle market and favourable exchange rates.

4th January 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Worse-Than-Expected Figures For Vredestein

Contrary to earlier forecasts, the Dutch Vredestein group has announced heavy losses for 2001. Sales and profitability on the German tyre market, which are very important factors in Vredestein’s results, are under pressure.

28th December 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

How Easy Is It To Buy On-Line?

The Internet, we are told, will revolutionise our working and private lives. Many companies trumpet the fact that they have websites, but what happens if you want to purchase a tyre over the Internet? Our article sets out to do just that, with mixed results. Some companies were easier to find than others, while the ease of ordering tyres on-line varied considerably. Some of our findings might surprise you.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Good EBIT Margin From Michelin

The tyre giant Michelin has today released more figures. The EBIT margin reached 7.6 % on a turnover of 15.4 billion Euro. Michelin reached this expected good result in spite of the fact that increases in raw material costs ate into the results over the year at many other tyre manufacturers. The truck division, which accounts for about 27 % of the total turnover, confirmed excellent double digit EBIT margins. For this year it is expected that Michelin will again achieve at least the same level of results as it did last year. But there is hope that oil prices are falling, which could give the company even better margins. The net debts stood at 4.9 billion Euro at the end of the year 2000.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Results Cannot Disguise Weak Period For Continental

In the first half of 2001, the group achieved a turnover of 5,498 million Euro; 12 per cent better than for the same period last year. EBIT came down from 267 million to 158 million Euros due to the closure of plants in Herstal (Belgium) and Bad Nauheim (Germany). Without these, EBIT would have been 58 million Euro better. The truck division shows some very bad figures; turnover is down 8 per cent to 438 million Euro and instead of an EBIT of 33 million Euro (2000), the group has made a loss of 37 million Euros. The tyre situation in America is even worse – despite a slight increase (+1 per cent) in turnover to 839 million Euro, the group made a loss of 53 million Euro. A year ago, the EBIT was +20 million Euro. Continental Automotive Systems boasts an increase in turnover of 31 per cent to 1,960 million Euro, but without the acquisition of Temic, the increase would have been 18 per cent. On the other hand, the EBIT improved by only 3 million Euro to 57 million Euro. The ContiTech business was, as always, very good, but ContiTech is up for sale. The division turned over 933 million Euro and achieved an EBIT of 81 million Euro. The Continental board remains optimistic that it will achieve not only a turnover for the year as a whole of more than 11 billion Euro, but that it will also improve the previous year’s EBIT.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors