Goodyear suffers loss while sales improve

AKRON (April 3)—Goodyear recorded a loss of $1.1 billion for both the fourth quarter and 2002. The loss is the largest in the tire maker's history. The bulk of its loss is the result of a previously announced non-cash charge of $1.08 billion Goodyear took in the fourth quarter to establish a valuation allowance against federal and state deferred tax assets, the company said. Goodyear, which employs 92,000 and has pension plans in place that pay benefits to about 35,000, had sales of $3.53 billion in the quarter, up 1.7 percent from $3.47 billion recorded in 2001's final period. Sales for 2002 fell to $13.9 billion from $14.1 billion the previous year. The company's North American Tire business had sales of $1.61 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $1.74 billion in the like period the previous year. Sales for the year fell to $6.7 billion from $7.15 billion in 2001. The decreases were attributed to unfavorable product mix, reduced volume in the replacement market and fewer tires delivered in connection with the 2001 Ford Motor Co. tire replacement program. Sales for Goodyear's Engineered Products segment increased in both the quarter and year because of strong demand for military and custom products while its Chemical Products unit's revenues were up in the fourth period but fell for the year because of lower selling prices, the firm said.