Titan Experienced Sales, Profit Declines in 2019

March 4, 2020

Titan International Inc.'s net sales in 2019 totaled $1.45 billion versus net sales of $1.6 billion for the full year of 2018.

The company achieved gross profit of $129 million for the year. This compared to a gross profit of $198.3 million that Titan generated in 2018.

According to Titan officials, decreases reflect "ongoing economic and weather challenges in the agricultural sector and a tightening of the construction market during 2019, which signifcantly impacted our undercarriage business," among other factors.

Titan's net sales for the fourth quarter of 2019 equaled $301.8 million, a 17% decline from sales generated during the fourth quarter of 2018. Overall, Titan's net sales volume fell 18.6% during the quarter versus "the comparable, prior-year quarter, due primarily to continued weakness in the North American agricultural  market, as well as a slowdown of global construction market conditions."

In the tiremaker's 8-K statement, released on March 4, Titan President and CEO Paul Reitz called 2019 "a challenging year for Titan and our industry. This comes on the heels of a very successful 2018. Titan, along with many of our customers, started 2019 with expectations for promise of further growth, but ultimately it produced significant volatility and uncertainty with poor ag conditions due to North American weather and the China trade battles. The fourth quarter was especially challenging with our primary OE customers producing below retail demand levels, which drove our sales well below the volume at which we could product profitably.

"Nothwithstanding the significant challenges, we made strides in 2019, including an improved focus on working capital management, which drove $45 million in operating cash flow despite $28 million of operating losses," he continued. "In addition, we maintained and even improved our leadership in our primary markets through customer positioning and continuing to produce high-quality and innovative products."

Click here to access Titan’s 8-K statement.