QUINCY, Ill. (Feb. 28) — Titan International Inc. posted double digit gains in its sales for the fourth quarter and year in 2006 on contributions from its farm and off-the-road acquisitions, but the firm lost ground on earnings.
Titan´s quarterly sales rose 71.4 percent to $165.6 million from $96.6 million the previous period. For the full year, sales rose 44.5 percent to $679.5 million from $470.1 million in 2005. Quincy-based Titan attributed the gains to the expanded product offering from its purchase of Goodyear´s North American farm tire business and Continental Tire North America Inc.´s Bryan, Ohio, OTR tire plant.
Sales in Titan´s agricultural segment rose 39.5 percent to $91.4 million in the quarter and 35.7 percent to $421.1 million for the year. Sales in its earthmoving/construction segment soared 155.1 percent to $65.9 million for the quarter and, for the year, 38.9 percent to $183.4 million.
Titan previously had announced that it is converting about one-third of its farm tire production at its plant in Freeport, Ill., to OTR tire production, and plans to produce more than $200 million in OTR tires this year.
Despite the sales gains, Titan posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of $9.54 million compared with a net loss of $5.54 million for the prior period. The full year ended in the black at $5.14 million, but the result is 53.4 percent down from 2005´s net income of $11 million.
Gross profit in the quarter fell to $2.14 million from $6.65 million, Titan said, in part from the company´s realignment of tooling, personnel and equipment at its three plants. Gross margin for the year rose to $72.8 million from $64.2 million.