KOBE, Japan—Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) reported an 8.8-percent drop in operating income in the quarter ended March 31 on 17.2 percent higher sales,
Operating income for the quarter slid to $122.2 million on sales of $2.16 billion, yielding an operating ratio of 5.7 percent, down from 7.3 percent a year ago. Net earnings rose 10.3 percent to 101.5 million.
Sumitomo cited negative factors such as the shortage of semiconductors, disruption of global logistics and the impact of soaring freight costs and rising raw-materials prices for the earnings decline.
On the other hand, sales grew as markets in the U.S. and Europe recovered from the year-ago period and SRI was able to export more in light of a weakening Japanese versus other currencies,
For the full fiscal year, SRI continues to abide by its earlier forecast for operating income of about $365 million, while sales revenue is expected to increase nearly 9 percent over the previous forecast—and nearly 22 percent over fiscal 2021—to about $10 billion.