QUINCY, Ill. (Oct. 30, 2006) — Titan International Inc.'s net sales rose 52 percent in the third quarter on its acquisitions of Goodyear's North American farm tire business and Continental Tire North America Inc.'s off-the-road (OTR) tire plant in Ohio.
Net sales increased to $156.1 million from $102.7 million in the prior period. Sales in the nine months ending Sept. 30 also grew 37.6 percent to $513.9 million.
Titan purchased Goodyear's farm business—including its plant in Freeport, Ill.—in December 2005 and bought Conti's OTR facility in Bryan, Ohio, in July for $53 million.
“In review of the third quarter, we are pleased to see how the Bryan OTR acquisition has offset the drop in farm revenue as discussed last quarter,” said Maurice Taylor Jr., chairman and CEO. “Operational profit will grow as the integration of Freeport and Bryan continue. It is our belief that we can increase our OTR production greater than the planned $150 million in sales, due to the fact that our Freeport facility can produce a number of bias OTR tires that were in short supply at Bryan.”
Income from operations jumped 109.9 percent in the quarter to $4.71 million and rose 14.8 percent in the nine months to $33.7 million.
Net income for the quarter, however, fell 58.7 percent to $488,000 because of a higher tax impact, Titan said. Net income in the nine months fell 11.5 percent to $14.7 million.