AKRON (Feb. 23)—Goodyear expects all seven of its business units to report positive segment operating income for 2004´s fourth quarter with overall quarterly income for the tire maker of about 55 to 65 cents per share and sales of about $4.8 billion.
North American Tire—Goodyear´s largest business unit and the one that has struggled the most the past few years—is expected to report segment operating results about in line with the third quarter, when the unit posted segment operating income of $13.5 million. A fourth-quarter profit would be the unit´s third consecutive quarter in the black. But Goodyear did not say whether the unit would be profitable for the full year.
Among its other business units, Goodyear said segment operating income is expected to double in the European Union, rise about 50 percent in Latin America and increase about 15 percent in Chemical Products. The remaining businesses—Engineered Products, Asia and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa—will be about equal to fourth quarter 2003 levels.