The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. posted a 258 million yen loss during the first quarter of 2020 compared with 9.1 billion yen in profit in the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile operating profit fell 90.4 per cent, to 1.2 billion yen. Sales revenue declined 13.6 per cent to 129.1 billion yen.
In the first quarter of 2020 Toyo Tire Corporation reported net sales of 82,094 million yen a decrease of 8,049 million yen (-9.8 per cent) compared with the first quarter of 2019. Its operating income for the quarter was 6,936 million compared to 10,174 million yen (-31.87%) in the first quarter of 2019.
Tirescanner, the US-based tyre e-commerce, has announced sales and customer growth of 400 per cent in the quarter covering January, February and March 2020. April and May have continued the same trend with the company predicting another record quarter.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported a first quarter 2020 net loss of $12 million, compared with net income of $7 million in same period last year. Unit volume decreased 15.8 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased 14.1 per cent to $532 million. Operating loss was $6 million, or 1.2 per cent of net sales, compared to operating profit of $26 million, or 4.3 per cent of net sales, in 2019.
Hankook Tire has reported consolidated global sales of KRW 1.4358 trillion (£945.0 million) for the first quarter of 2020, around 12.6 per cent less than in the opening quarter of last year. Operating profit decreased 24.8 per cent year-on-year to KRW 105.9 billion (£69.7 million).
Preliminary results for the first quarter of The Goodyear Tire Rubber Company’s 2020 financial year were published today, with the company confirming its fiscal performance during the three months to 31 March was “greatly affected by the economic disruption associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.” Tyre unit volumes declined 18 per cent year-on-year to approximately 31 million units and sales dropped 16.7 per cent to around US$3.0 billion.
Nokian Tyres expects that its net sales in 2020 will be below last year’s and operating profit will be “significantly” beneath 2019 levels. Operating profit will primarily be affected by costs related to the company’s expansion in North America and other investment programmes.
Automotive supplier Hella has ended the fiscal year 2018/2019 (1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019) with an increase in sales and earnings. Currency and portfolio-adjusted sales have risen by 5.0 per cent compared to the previous year. Reported sales decreased to 7.0 billion euros (previous year: 7.1 billion euros) as a result of divestment from the wholesale business and taking the effects of exchange rates into consideration.
Delticom AG has managed to maintain its gross profit level in the first half of the year despite a slight decrease in sales compared with the prior-year period. Revenues amounted to 285 million euros in the six months to 30 June 2019, 2.1 per cent less year-on-year. Gross profit was 76.9 million euros, nearly unchanged compared to the previous year; stable profits and lower sales meant that the gross margin slightly grew to 21.9 per cent (H1 2018: 21.7%).
Continental is the latest automotive sector company to report lower year-on-year income in the second quarter of the year. The tyre maker and automotive systems supplier describes its fiscal performance during the period as “an overall solid” result despite a “sharply declining market.” It is nevertheless considering ways of keeping its production costs in check, and will report its progress to this end in the weeks to come.
In reporting its financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2019, Hankook Tire notes that the six months to 30 June were punctuated by uncertainty within the global tyre market. Challenges faced by many tyre makers include declining vehicle sales, anti-dumping duties and uncertainty caused by US-China trade tensions. Hankook specifically battled high fixed costs during a low demand cycle, a relatively high dependency on China for both production and sales, and issues with stabilisation at its 2017-opened plant in the USA.
Continental has readjusted the full-year 2019 outlook for its tyre-making Rubber Group, primarily in response to declining global car and light vehicle production. It has also readjusted the outlook for its Automotive Group business for the same reason.
Kumho Tire has appointed its interim CEO as the new permanent CEO following reports it was struggling to find a suitable candidate. South Korean media sources report that the Board approved the appointment of vice president Jeon Dae-Jin (60) yesterday. Kumho also reported a net loss for the fourth consecutive year in its annual financial report.
Michelin sales rose by 0.3 per cent in 2018 to more than 22 billion euros, while operating income increased by 1.2 per cent.
Yokohama
Toyo
Photo: Continental AG