FINDLAY, Ohio—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s net income and sales both declined for the full year 2018.
Net income came in at $77 million compared to $95 million in 2017. Sales dipped to $2.81 billion, down slightly compared to $2.85 billion the previous year.
For the fourth quarter, sales increased 1.8 percent to $770 million. The firm still reported a net loss of $419,000, but that was an increase compared to the $42.2 million loss reported in the fourth quarter of 2017
Unit volume decreased 2.4 percent for the year and 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter.
Its 2018 results included a $34 million goodwill impairment charge associated with its proposed joint venture to build a truck and bus radial tire production plant in Vietnam. Cooper said the capacity created by this planned facility will decrease expected production requirements for Cooper's Qingdao Ge Rui Da Rubber Co. Ltd. joint venture in China, resulting in the goodwill impairment charge.
"Our fourth quarter operating margin, excluding the goodwill impairment charge, exceeded what we achieved in the third quarter, excluding the benefit from an adjustment of our product liability reserve model in that quarter," Brad Hughes, Cooper Tire CEO and president, said in a statement. "As stated at the beginning of 2018, we expected operating margin improvement throughout the year, and we delivered on this expectation as our strategic initiatives took hold."
Sales in its Americas Tire Operations segment increased 3 percent to $664 million for the quarter, but decreased 2.2 percent to $2.36 billion for 2018. Fourth quarter total light vehicle tire shipments in the U.S. increased 0.4 percent.
Its International Tire Operations segment reported a 7.8 percent decrease in sales for the fourth quarter to $149 million. However, sales increased 3.6 percent to $641 million for the year.