shares Archives - Page 73 of 76 - Tyrepress

Posts

Racing fever in Germany now – Michelin Goes Formula One

Members of the German buying association of free tyre dealers “EFR” met for their annual meeting at the former Expo exhibition centre. Doors were closed when they reviewed the past year and analysed the weak points, as well as when they tried to set the agenda for the year 2001. No doubt EFR is known on the market as a “Michelin buying association”, which, regarded from the opposite side, is as wrong as if FRI were to be called a “Goodyear buying association”. But this is the wrong place to discuss both sides’ differences. In fact, EFR is representing a group with a very friendly relationship towards Michelin and therefore selling their products as a priority. And of course Michelin itself is doing everything to satisfy the EFR dealers’ demands, as with more than 300 specialised tyre dealers they form a solid distribution basis for their products. After being in low gear for several years, Michelin has had a brilliant start to the new millennium, while profiting from the seeds they have been sowing for the past two or three years. However, until recently, with their first brand the French have steadily been losing market shares all over Europe and most of all in Germany – although no loss of quantity and admittedly from a high ranking – now they are ready for the battle with the competition in their home market Europe, more than ever. As Michelin wants to win the race, Patrice Kéfalas could not miss a favourable opportunity: “Michelin goes Formula One” was the message that he announced in front of the EFR tyre dealers. Hence, the race is on at all levels. With Michelin tyres Patrice Kéfalas does not only want to win for merely for the sake of being the winner, he also wants to realise an image profit, which should end up in either greater quantities or better selling prices too between industry and trade or trade and consumer, or even both.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

No Recommendation For Conti Shares At The Moment

Analysts regard the price of Conti shares as relatively cheap, at 16.5 Euro. On the other hand, prospects for the group do not look very good; Continental’s Letter to Investors revealed that results in Europe for the first quarter of the year were better than expected. However, the situation for Conti General in the USA is very difficult, with results much worse than forecast and with little prospect of improvement. The plan to sell off the profitable Conti-Tech division will probably have a negative impact on the share price, analysts also believe.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Greater Share In Stomil For Michelin

Michelin has gained another 2.88% stake in Stomil-Olsztyn and now holds 65.78% of the company shares. The remainder of the shares are held by eight to ten owners as opposed to the 40 additional shareholders that existed at the beginning of September. This new structure, according to Michelin, clarifies the structure of the company.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Massive Drop In Profit Announced By Bridgestone

As widely expected, the Bridgestone Corporation has reported a massive fall in net profits of 80 per cent for the year 2000. Net profit was 17.7 billion Yen (US$ 155 million), which was better than the company’s prediction late last year of 13 Billion Yen. Turnover was down too, by 3.8 per cent to 2,006.9 billion Yen, and pre tax profits were down nearly 38 per cent, from 200.8 billion Yen last year to 124.8 billion Yen. This is largely attributable to the effects of the Firestone recall. This is the company’s worst result in ten years. Since the announcement of the tyre recall, Bridgestone shares have fallen in value by 50%.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Rollercoaster Ride Continues For Bridgestone Shares

It is hard to keep pace with the price of Bridgestone shares as they yo-yo up and down. Following a fall when the company announced the closure of the Decatur factory, the shares have risen by 0.77 per cent, outperforming the Stock Market. Japanese analysts believe that the factory closure and associated cost savings are a positive step.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Another Recall For Firestone

After last year’s disaster, Firestone is now making a voluntary recall of 98,000 Firehawk GTA-02 tyres. The size is P205/55 R16 and the tyres were mostly fitted as OE on Nissan Altima sedans in the USA. The problem is an over-wide steel belt which could lead to cracking at the shoulder – the design has since been modified. Both Bridgestone/Firestone and Nissan stress that the move is purely precautionary and that there have been no tread separations, accidents or claims associated with the tyre.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Factory Closure And Reduced Profits For Bridgestone Corp.

At a press conference, Bridgestone President Shigeo Watanabe revealed that the company was to close its plant at Decatur, Illinois, where 1,500 people are employed. The plant closure will lead to a loss of $210 million, offset to some extent by cost savings of $100 million. Bridgestone will also incur an additional special loss this year, amounting to $549.6 million and the group has revised its worldwide consolidated net profit forecast from 48 billion Yen to 10 billion. For Bridgestone Japan, the company is predicting a net loss of 130 billion Yen for the calendar year 2001, the first loss for the group since it was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1961. Bridgestone’s shares fell nearly 2 per cent on the news, to stand at 1,273 Yen.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Recommendation For Goodyear Shares Also

Deutsche Bank analysts have upgraded Goodyear shares from “Market Perform” to “Buy”. They are of the opinion that Goodyear has made significant progress in reforming its cost structure and this, coupled with lower raw material prices, will mean much better-than-expected profits. The analysts also believe that Goodyear can capture many Firestone dealers in February next year, when their contracts with Firestone expire.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Rate Goodyear Shares A “Buy”

Despite the admission of chairman and CEO Samir G. Gibara that Goodyear’s 4Q results were “disappointing”, some financial analysts have recommended the company’s shares as a “buy”. The results were better than forecast, plus the analysts are confident that Goodyear will start to turn things around before long.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Trust in Michelin Shares

Deutsche Bank AG sees potential in Michelin shares, which lost about 10 % at the stock exchange last week, and they recommend these as a “buy”. On the one hand analysts foresee cheaper raw material prices and on the other hand they believe that, as Michelin is focussing on the high end of the market, the company will be the winner because American consumers are making a flight to quality after the recall of Firestone tyres.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Recommend Michelin Shares As A “Buy”

Cheaper oil prices and the result of the Firestone recall in the US make Michelin shares a “buy”, according to analysts from the Deutsche Bank. Despite weakening demand in the US – the world’s biggest tyre market – Michelin is gaining market share and selling more tyres than ever. Market observers believe that it will be possible to obtain better prices for tyres in the region of 3 to 5 per cent.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Car Sales In Western Europe To Fall

Automotive consulting firm Autopolis has produced a report which predicts that the western European car market is going through a decline at the moment. 1999 was a record year, with 15.1 million vehicles being sold, but last year the market dropped by 2% and Autopolis says that the fall will continue this year and next, with sales dropping to 13.4 million cars – a decline of 11% in three years.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

How Kraiburg Regards the Future Of Retreading

Even before the dramatic changes in the worldwide economy after September 11th, the retreading business, as well as its suppliers, was facing hard times. Reduced demand, increased competition and price pressure characterised the depressed market. It was not unusual for material suppliers to experience a decrease in their third quarter results of around 20 percent. Uncertainty, pessimism and negative forecasts represented the collective mood in wide areas of the business. But Kraiburg, the Geretsberg (Austria)-based retreading supplier, is swimming against the stream and reports stable economic results and new strategic activities to meet future market challenges. Kraiburg’s turnover in 2001, up till end October, is just half a percent below the company’s performance for the first ten months last year. In addition, an agreement for a joint venture with the Bulgarian company Zebra was finalised in October. Since 1997 the Sofia based company Zebra has produced thin and light tread patterns which would have been uneconomic to produce in Austria. Kraiburg has invested around one million Euro in Zebra’s tread pattern production and 95 percent of the joint venture shares belong to Kraiburg. Within the next two years the Bulgarian production will be increased from 800 to 1,800 tons per year – using the same machinery and equipment.

28th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

160,000 Tyres To Be Replaced By Continental

Continental General Tire will replace 160,000 Contitrac AS MXS tyres, size P245/75R16, of which 140,000 were mounted on Ford’s Lincoln Navigator and 20,000 were delivered into the aftermarket. The tyres were produced in the Mayfield factory (Kentucky/USA) between January 1997 and 11th week of 1998. In 62 cases faults have been revealed, some tyres have suffered tread separations in remarkably similar circumstances to the current recall of Firestone tyres: the incidents occurred in Saudi-Arabia, where Firestone tyres have been under scrutiny, and again a Ford vehicle – the Lincoln Navigator – was affected. Up till now it is known that two people have been hurt in accidents, which could have been caused by tyre defects. The Stock Exchange Responds Quickly To The Tyre Recall From Continental. Within a few hours, Conti-shares lost around 8 % of their value.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Shares Rise

Yokohama Rubber’s share price surged by at the end of February. Analysts are speculating whether this marks the beginning of a new round of consolidation in the tyre industry.

7th December 2000/by Tyrepress Editors