Yokohama Tire suffers earnings losses

TOKYO (Aug. 28)—Yokohama Tire Corp. fell $13.4 million into the red last year on an operating basis, and reported a $79.8 million net loss as parent company Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. wrote off completely the goodwill of its U.S. subsidiary. Yokohama Rubber said it expects to trim the loss in North America to $20 million in fiscal 2002 and break even by fiscal 2006. To do so, the company plans to revamp the management structure at the U.S. operation, improve logistics and update the product line across the board. Specific details were not divulged. Sales in North America slipped 5.9 percent to $557.8 million as demand for truck tires collapsed in the latter half of the firm's fiscal year. Despite the North American losses, Yokohama Rubber returned to the black, reporting a fiscal 2001 net profit of $867,993 on sales of $3.5 billion for the year ended March 31.