Mixed results: tyre makers show sales gains for first half; Half-year results show strong gains, but not for all tyre makers.

European Rubber Journal, September, 2005 by Davis, Bruce

Byline: Bruce Davis ERJ Akron bureau

Escalating raw material costs continue to plague global tyre makers' bottom lines, but a host of other factors have also affected performance so far this year.

Though profitability was mixed among the largest tyre makers, sales were consistently up for the first half of the year. Pirelli SpA led the pack with the largest increase of 13.1 percent to $2750 million. Group Michelin posted the smallest gain at 0.1 percent to $9030 million. But Bridgestone Corp. scored the highest sales for the period, at $11 400 million, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year.

Profitability was more tenuous and is likely to remain that way for the rest of the year.

Bridgestone nearly doubled its net earnings to...

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