TOKYO (Aug. 8, 2012)—Bridgestone Corp. reported roughly 40-percent gains in operating and net income for the six months ended June 30 on a 2-percent increase in sales.
Operating profits jumped 42.9 percent in the period to $1.68 billion as sales rose to $18.7 billion, raising the operating earnings ratio nearly three percentage points to 9 percent. Net income was up 39.1 percent to $946.7 million or 5.1 percent of sales.
Bridgestone attributed the earnings improvements to a number of factors, including strengthened supply capacity, increased sales of “high competitive” products and using management resources more effectively.
Sales in the tire segment rose 1.3 percent to $12.7 billion, while operating income climbed 33.3 percent to $1.23 billion, or 9.7 percent of sales.
Bridgestone said unit sales of ties followed trends around the world — down sharply in Europe and up strongly in Asia—but in mining tires, unit sales increased substantially following increased capacity for these products
Replacement tire sales in the Americas were unchanged from 2011, Bridgestone said, but truck/bus tire volume fell because of a drop in replacement demand.