NEW DELHI, India (May 25, 2011)—JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. posted a 33-percent increase sales for the year ended March 31, but pretax profits tumbled 48.8 percent.
The Indian company said pretax earnings slipped to $41 million while sales jumped to $1.3 billion for the year. Raw material costs for the tire maker jumped 61 percent in that period.
The firm said its operations in Mexico posted a 66.5-percent decline although sales rose 20 percent.
JK Tyre said it could not raise prices sufficiently to keep pace with the increase in raw material costs.
The company said it is the top producer in India of truck and bus radials, with output exceeding 4 million units. It also said expansion projects are on schedule, including its greenfield factory at Chennai.