KOBE, Japan—Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) reported double-digit gains in sales and earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30, reversing two quarters of earnings declines.
Operating income for the third quarter rose 13.4-percent to $131.3 million while sales grew 12 percent to $1.88 billion. Net earnings jumped 27 percent to $93.7 million.
Despite the rise in operating income in the quarter, Sumitomo's operating income for the nine months of $434.4 million was still behind the 2012 period by 1.7 percent.
Nine month sales climbed 6.4 percent to $5.38 billion, while net income was up 7.5 percent to $250.2 million.
Sumitomo did not comment on the reasons for its earnings or sales improvements.
The firm's tire division reported 16.7-percent higher operating earnings in the quarter of $12.2 million on 12.4-percent better sales of $1.65 billion. For the first three quarters of 2013, the tire division's operating income was up 0.3 percent to $389.5 million on 6.4-percent better sales of $4.66 billion.