Bridgestone Cuts Full-Year Profit Projections
Bridgestone Corporation has revised its full-year financial projections, cutting net income predictions 35 per cent to 65 billion yen (£306 million).
Tyres can’t function without this critical raw material. Whether its natural or synthetic rubber you are interested in, articles bearing this tag feature this indispensable polymer.
Bridgestone Corporation has revised its full-year financial projections, cutting net income predictions 35 per cent to 65 billion yen (£306 million).
Standard & Poor’s Equity Research analyst Efraim Levy has reduced his earnings estimates for Goodyear Tire & Rubber, saying that raw material costs will have a greater impact on the company than was originally thought. He cut the second-quarter and full-year 2006 earnings estimates on Goodyear to 36 cents and $1.29 per share, respectively, from 43 cents and $1.51. Levy said he expects the company to be cash-flow negative in 2006 and he lowered the target price on Goodyear shares to $14 from $17.
The Hercules Tire & Rubber Company (Hercules), the marketer and distributor of private label and branded tyres, announced that it is acquiring Tire Distributor Inc., USA (TDI), a tyre wholesaler headquartered near Miami, Florida. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “We are very pleased to bring TDI and its management team and employees into the Hercules family,” said Larry Seawell, president and chief executive officer of Hercules. Seawell added, “We had targeted the Southeast region for expansion given the opportunities for growth in that market, and it was important for us to find a strong operating platform in Florida that would allow us to expand our sales and distribution capabilities throughout the Southeast and into Latin America.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced that it is withdrawing from certain segments of the private label tyre business in North America. Approximately 10 private label brands currently manufactured by Goodyear and sold by wholesale customers to tyre retailers will be affected by the decision. In 2005, this segment represented approximately $300 million in sales and about 8 million units manufactured in five North American plants, or approximately one-third of the company’s overall private label business.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s virtual design technology, which has facilitated the success of several award-winning new tyres, has earned a 2006 CIO 100 award. The annual award program sponsored by CIO magazine recognises organisations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology.
(India/Rubber Asia) Goodyear India is quietly getting into the news again. After years of lack-lustre performance, the company is making rapid strides in select segments and is charting out aggressive growth strategies. Antonio M.Capellini, chairman and managing director of Goodyear India, has reason to be happy. Despite severe competition from multinational and local brands, the company has carved out a niche market for itself. In the OTR tyre segment it’s the market leader in the country. With an 18 per cent market share in the passenger car radial segment, it is the only tyre company in the country approved by all car manufacturers for OEM supplies.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Associated Press has reported that the US Labor Department has filed a hiring discrimination suit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The suit alleges the tyremaker discriminated against female applicants for jobs at its Danville, Virginia, tyre plant in the 1990s.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd has reported record annual net sales of 300.2 billion yen (£1.412 billion, 2.75 billion euros), an 11.2 per cent increase on 2005. Operating income for the 2005 financial year also grew, totalling 13.094 billion yen (£61.627 million, 90.5 million euros) up 8.5 per cent year-on-year. However this total was short of the company’s target of 13.6 billion yen. During the period, Toyo’s net income fell 22.1 per cent to 5.378 billion (£25.313 million, 37.2 million euros). Toyo’s results presentation explain that the fall in its various income totals was largely impacted by the rise in raw material costs that is effecting all manufacturers.
The last message I would ever hear from Edouard Michelin was as follows: “For Michelin it would have been totally unthinkable to leave people in the lurch who have shown their loyalty to our group over so many years.” From an economic point of view, Michelin should have sold its rubber plantation after it became obvious that the plantation in the North of Brazil, close to Salvador/Bahia, could not be managed successfully and would continue to lose money. But, instead of selling the plantation and abandoning the people, leaving them without hope, Michelin looked for other and better alternatives and created the Ouro Verde project.
To download this obituary as a PDF file please click here.
A recent Farmer’s Weekly article entitled “One man’s waste…Profit from tyres” encourages farmers to shop around for the best deal when it comes to disposing of tyres. The article pointed to new waste regulations that came into force on 15 May, explaining that Farmers can store waste tyres that are “already on-farm” under an exemption licence from the Environment Agency that must be applied for by 15 May 2007.
In a complete reversal of the situation a decade ago, the tyre recovery rate is now higher in many parts of the EU than in the USA, according to the Bureau of International Recycling’s (BIR) Tyres committee. Bureau chairman, Barend Ten Bruggencate of The Netherlands told committee members meeting in Beijing that landfills had consumed 62 per cent of the EU’s scrap tyres as recently as 1994 and yet this figure had plummeted to 20 per cent by 2004 when some 3.213 million tonnes of used tyres were recovered across the 25 member states.
(Akron/Tire Review) Formal negotiations between the United Steeelworkers (USW) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for a new master contract have opened, and already it appears negotiations will be difficult. Both sides exchanged their basic contract proposals this past weekend in Cincinnati, with the USW finding the tyremaker’s proposal “unacceptable.” Talks are scheduled to open 13 June.
For the second year running, Bridgestone Poland has won the ‘Best investor in Poland’ award from Poland’s Rzeczpospolita newspaper, the country’s respected business and political daily. The award was received by Mr Hiroyoshi Takigawa, President of Bridgestone Poland Sp z o.o., from the Polish ministers of Finance and State Treasury at a ceremony on 25 April 2006.
Rzeczpospolita is renowned in Poland for its annual ranking and review of the country’s top 500 companies, including both locally-owned firms and subsidiaries of foreign companies. At the same time, a jury appointed by the newspaper makes awards to outstanding companies across several categories.
The thing that makes Chakaia Booker’s post-industrial sculptures stand out is that they’re all made from recycled tyres. The US artist scours city streets, highways and even junkyards trying to find her muse. Pushing the boundaries has earned Booker much critical acclaim. She’s hailed as the “rubber queen” by the art world. And her use of society’s throw away objects led to her current exhibition at the national museum of women in the arts. The eco-feminist says she’s not just creating art but making the public think more about the environment. While her work is unlikely to make any kind of dent into the global tyre arising totals, she certainly has found a way of making tyre mountains look more attractive.
Hannover-based Berstorff and Munich-based Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik have set up a joint subsidiary under Russian law. The new company is called BKM O.O.O. (the legal form of a German GmbH) and is registered in Moscow. With the foundation of the joint subsidiary, both companies intend to extend and improve the range of services for their customers in Russia and the neighbouring states. BKM will concentrate on services, like assembly and commissioning as well as modernisation and repairs. Berstoff produces rolling cylinders, extrusion products and other rubber related equipment.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.