TOKYO—Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (YRC) reported record sales and earnings for the third straight year, as profits benefited from falling raw materials costs and a weakening yen.
Operating income rose 4.3 percent to $558.3 million on a 3.9-percent increase in sales to $5.91 billion. Net income jumped 15.7 percent to $382.8 million.
Yokohama attributed its strong fiscal performance to “robust growth” in Japanese OE tire demand, “vigorous” sales gains in tire markets overseas and growth in industrial products.
Operating income in Yokohama's tire operations increased 5.6 percent to $459.1 million on 3.8-percent higher sales to $4.7 billion.
Sales in the domestic market were mixed, with higher OE demand and relatively flat replacement market sales, Yokohama said, while gains in unit volume and value boosted overseas sales.
Business in North A-merica jumped 18.3 percent to $535.6 million, but operating earnings for the region slumped to $27.5 million, a 40-percent drop.
The Tokyo-based tire maker's management is projecting another year of record operating income and net sales for fiscal 2015, with operating profits rising 8.4 percent and sales 7.6 percent.
Net income, on the other hand, likely will drop again, by perhaps as much as 11 percent.