Bridgestone revises '02 earnings forecast downward

TOKYO (Dec. 4)—Bridgestone Corp. has revised downward by about 40 percent its earnings forecast for fiscal 2002 after announcing a $400 million capital infusion for its European activities. Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding Inc., on the other hand, should report net income about 40 percent higher than projected earlier this year. Based on the latest estimates, Bridgestone Corp. expects to report net income of $322 million on sales of more than $18 billion. In the Americas, Bridgestone/Firestone's net income should rise to $70 million, while operating income and sales should hit the earlier projections of $190 million and $7.6 billion, respectively. "Although the company's performance is not yet where we ultimately want it to be, the numbers clearly show that we've stabilized the business and our comeback is well ahead of schedule," said Mike Gorey, controller and vice president of BFAH. "A lot of the credit goes to the hard work of our 51,000 employees and our loyal stores and dealers across the Americas."