An announcement from Nokian Tyres said that the company had increased its share capital by a total of 29,650 euros on 21st August. The new shares will be traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, together with the old shares, from the following day. The increase means that Nokian’s share capital now stands at 24,406,454 euros.
In recent years Indian tyre manufacturer Ceat (established in 1958) has shown consistent signs of growth, and the company’s wide range of industrial products is no exception to this trend. The Ceat industrial range includes tractor drive axles tyres R3 and R4, skid steer products, industrial forklift MPT fitments and container handling tyres. According to the company, Altura tyres feature high contact areas for low rolling resistance, brake plies to increase puncture resilience and high tensile strength bead wires for proper rim/tyre fitment. So whether your vehicles operate in a port or an urban warehouse, the Indian manufacturer says it has a product for you.
Analysts have interpreted Nokian’s positive results as an indication that the Finnish company’s move to Russia has paid off. Results published yesterday showed the company’s second quarter sales grew almost 60 per cent in the second quarter. “Net sales came in at 120.3 million euros, some 11 per cent better than expected; EBIT came in at 26.8 million euros some 45 per cent better than our estimate of 18.4 million,” Deutsche Bank analysts reported.
Nokian’s net sales grew to 349.4 million euros (18.3 per cent) in the first half of 2006. During the same period operating profit amounted to 48.6 million euros (2005: 46.1 million), up 5.4 per cent. However profits before tax fell 10.8 per cent to 42 million euros in the period. Nokian Renkaat shares soared 18 per cent higher in response to the news.
Stamford Tyres Distributors India Private Limited (Stamford Tyres India) was incorporated on 6 July 2005 with an authorized capital of 500,000 rupees (£5700) and will sell and distribute wheels and tyres to the Indian market.
Alliance Tire Co. ltd. has signed a supply contract with Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of heavy engineering equipment. Alliance Tire expects the contract to generate $4 million revenue through December 2007. According to Alliance, the relationship could create other business opportunities for the company and help it penetrate new markets.
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 Board of Directors of Pirelli & C. S.p.A has announced it will begin its initial public offering for Pirelli Tyre S.p.A on 21 June. Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. gained Borsa Italiana approval for the listing on 12 June 2006. Banca Caboto, Capitalia, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Securities, Mediobanca, Merrill Lynch International and Morgan Stanley, will act as Global Coordinators for the Global Offering.
(Akron/Tire Review) Pirelli SpA has cleared a key hurdle in its quest to issue stock for its tyre group. Milan’s bourse cleared the listing of shares in Pirelli Tyre, but no timetable for the possible listing was given. Regulator Consob must still approve the IPO. Mediobanca SpA and Banca Akros SpA have been retained by Pirelli to handle the potential IPO.
Together with joint venture partner Inci (40 per cent of the shares), in June Hayes Lemmerz inaugurated a new aluminium wheel casting plant in Manisa (in the Izmir region of Turkey). Production is based on the low-pressure process and operates at the same standard as at all the original equipment manufacturer’s other facilities. 400,000 wheels will be manufactured this year, with some 17-inch products being sold to Toyota. In the next year production will increase to approximately 1 million units with further expansion plans in the offing dependent on the order situation.
The floatation of Pirelli & C. SpA’s tyre unit could raise as much as 1 billion euros two inside sources told Bloomberg. According to the report Pirelli is seeking to take advantage of increasing profit at Pirelli Tyre SpA and plans to sell as much as 40 per cent of the division in the IPO. The shares are scheduled to go on sale during the week beginning 12 June said the sources.
(Akron/Tire Review) After its first year of operation, Russian tyremaker Amtel-Vredestein NV ended up in the black, posting net income of $5 million in 2005 against sales of $671 million. Net sales jumped 40 per cent for the year versus 2004’s results, the company said.
Tributes have been paid from politicians and industry figures following the tragic death last Friday of Edouard Michelin, Managing Partner of the Michelin group. Mr. Michelin (42) drowned in a boating accident off the Brittany Coast during a fishing trip. He is survived by his wife and their six children. The Michelin company was founded in 1889 by Edouard Michelin’s great grandfather and Mr. Michelin joined the family firm in 1985, after training as an engineer at the Ecole Centrale de Paris. He took over as head of the company in 1999, succeeding his father Francois.
Analysts at the Deutsche Bank are upgrading Goodyear shares to “Hold” from “Sell”, saying that Goodyear shares have experienced a material correction since the bank lowered its recommendation to Sell in January. In the short term, the analysts say that they continue to see earnings risk associated with very weak demand, which may force Goodyear to idle factories in order to bring down inventories.
The board of Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres Ltd. has approved a plan to raise 2 billion rupees (34 million euros) through a public issue of shares. Apollo also plans a rights issue, whereby company shareholders would get one share for every six held under the rights issue. The company would also allot one warrant for every four rights shares issued.
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