AKRON—Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. reported record sales and earnings for the nine months ended Sept. 30, while Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) boosted its net income and sales for the period, thanks to lower natural rubber costs and a weakened yen.
Sumitomo's operating income edged up 0.6 percent to $135.7 million, while net earning rose 1 percent to $96 million for the quarter, ended Sept. 30. Sales rose 7.6 percent to $1.94 billion.
SRI's operating and net income for the nine months were up 14.2 percent to $476.7 million and 28 percent to $307.8 million, respectively. Sales rose 8.2 percent to $5.59 billion.
SRI said its results reflected reduced natural rubber prices and improvements in the export environment due to yen depreciation.
SRI's tire business increased its operating income 14.6 percent through nine months to $428.5 million on 8.6-percent better sales of $4.86 billion.
Toyo Tire's record sales and earnings for the nine months benefited from higher revenues, lower raw materials costs and favorable foreign-exchange rates.
Operating income for that period jumped 37.8 percent to $327 million on 7.1-percent higher sales of $2.76 billion. Net income nearly quad-rupled to $226.1 million.
Operating income for the third quarter was up 15 percent to $120.3 million on 5.1-percent higher sales of $961.1 million, Toyo said, while net income hit $75.8 million, a turnaround from a net loss in the 2013 period.
Toyo's results reflected a strong performance in the tire business unit, which reported a 44.8-percent jump in nine-month operating income to $305.2 million and an 8.6-percent increase in sales to $2.18 billion.
Toyo attributed the improvements to unit sales gains in its domestic replacement business and in its key overseas businesses, including North America, where unit sales and revenue increased due to “strong” sales of higher value-added SUV tires.
The company's operating income in North America increased 26.2 percent for the nine months to $78.8 million on 14-percent higher sales of $1.14 billion, for an operating ratio of 6.9 percent.
Toyo said its business outlook for fiscal 2014 remains unchanged: 8-percent sales gain to about $3.85 billion and a 22-percent jump in operating income to about $438 million. Net income is expected to more than double to nearly $270 million.
Yokohama Rubber reported 6.5-percent higher operating income of $306.4 million on 4.4-percent better sales of $4.13 billion, while net income jumped 27.4 percent to $239.6 million for the nine-month period. Driving the record sales were gains in OE tire business in Japan and growth in overseas markets.
Operating income in the third quarter dropped 23.8 percent to $79.6 million despite 2.2-percent better sales of $1.4 billion. Net income rose 5.8 percent to $66.9 million.
Yokohama's tire operations registered a 12.7-percent improvement in operating income, to $238.6 million for the nine months, while sales increased 4.4 percent to $3.25 billion.
Yokohama reported that sales in North America increased 6.1 percent to $1 billion, but operating income in North America fell 49 percent to $18.3 million.
For the full year, Yokohama is sticking with its earlier projections that net sales will climb 5.5 percent over fiscal 2013, with operating and net income rising 11.2 and 20 percent, respectively.