TOKYO (May 10, 2010)—Bridgestone Corp. returned to the black in the quarter ended March 31on a 16.1-percent rise in sales from business recovery in most of the company's markets.
Bridgestone reported operating and net income of $396.6 million and $194.3 million, respectively, for the first quarter, despite rising costs for raw materials.
Sales rose to $7.26 billion as the company reported double-digit sales gains in all of its geographic regions, including the Americas, where revenue increased 11.2 percent to $3.07 billion. The Americas business unit posted operating income of $128.9 million after barely breaking even last year.
The tire segment reported an operating profit of $364.5 million on sales of $6.03 billion as unit sales greatly exceeded those of the prior year quarter in nearly all regions, Bridgestone said