Titan International Inc. had net income of $5.6 million on sales of $121.2 million for the second quarter, its second consecutive profitable period, the company reported July 30.
Titan's net profits for the quarter were a big improvement on the like period of 2003, when it posted an $8.2 million loss. Sales fell 7.5 percent from the $131 million posted in the second quarter of 2003, but increased 28.9 percent from the $94 million pro forma, adjusted to reflect the April public sale of Titan Europe.
Titan Europe P.L.C. now is a separate public company traded on London's AIM market. A wholly owned Titan subsidiary is the largest stockholder, retaining a 30-percent interest, while the sale of the remaining 70 percent resulted in an offering amount of about $62 million. Of the net proceeds, Titan dedicated $15 million to buy back about 4.9 million shares of Titan International stock held by Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd.
Net sales for the first half of 2004 were $288.2 million, up from $260 million for the first half of 2003. The company reported net profits of $10.9 million for the first six months of 2004, up from a $14.1 million loss last year.
``The first half of 2004 has shown solid progress for Titan and the strength of our order book is evidence of our customers' preference for Titan products,'' said Maurice Taylor Jr., Titan president and CEO. ``This was the right time to secure Titan's refinancing and position the company to take advantage of growth opportunities. The outlook through 2005 is positive and Titan is prepared to meet these challenges.''
Since the second quarter ended, Titan has been busy reorganizing its financing. On July 26, the company announced it secured a new $100 million revolving credit facility with agents LaSalle Bank National Association and General Electric Capital Corp., terminating its former loan agreements.
Titan also sold 5.25-percent convertible senior unsecured notes due 2009 in a Rule 144A offering for $115 million principal amount. The notes are convertible into shares of Titan's common stock at an initial conversion price of $13.50 per common share.