TOKYO—Bridgestone Corp. reported a 3.1 percent decline in operating income for the quarter ended March 31 on 0.9 percent higher sales.
Bridgestone cited higher administrative and raw materials costs for the drop in operating income, saying they combined to offset gains in price/mix/volume. The company referenced higher costs related to mergers and acquisitions, as well as research and development as factors impacting the earnings drop.
Operating income fell to $922.4 million on sales of $7.94 billion, dropping the operating ratio slightly to 11.6 percent. Net income was up 7 percent to $585.4 million.
Regarding revenue, Bridgestone said "robust growth" in large and ultra-large OTR tires offset weak sales in the consumer area. Truck tire sales were stable.
Geographically, Bridgestone reported sales gains in Europe/Middle East/Africa (6.2 percent), Japan (4.8 percent) and Asia-Pacific (1.3 percent), but said sales dropped 1.8 percent in the Americas, to $3.77 billion.
Bridgestone did not provide more detailed commentary on its results, other than to say it expects January-June sales to exceed those of 2017, but for the operating income to fall short.