Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. second quarter results for 2015 were driven by record operating profit in the Americas.
Cooper recorded net sales of almost $752 million, down from $889 million for the same period a year ago. Cooper says the drop is fully attributable to the absence of Chengshan (Shangdong) Tire Co. Ltd. (CCT,) the company’s former joint venture in China, which was sold at the end of 2014.
Income for the second quarter, ended June 30, 2015, was $60 million, up from $44 million in 2014. The company’s income-to-sales ratio was 8% for the second quarter.
“Our second quarter performance was very strong as the positive trends from the first quarter continued, giving Cooper a strong first half of 2015,” said Roy Armes, Cooper’s chairman, president and CEO. “This was a record second quarter operating profit for the company. The Americas segment posted another quarter of outstanding results, with continued unit volume growth and an operating margin of 16%, which is well above our long-term total company target.
“Unit volumes increased in both the Americas and International segments, with double-digit increases in unit volumes in China, excluding CCT, and Latin America. This demonstrates that our efforts to grow in these rapidly expanding markets are working as we continue to execute our global strategic growth plan,” says Armes.
In the Americas, net sales increased 5.3%, from $639 million in 2014 to $673 million in 2015. Operating profit for the Americas jumped 67.5%, from $65 million to $109 million, and the operating margin increased from 10.1% to 16.1%.
Cooper says unit shipments in the Americas increased 7.3% compared to the same period in 2014, and that the increase “was driven in large part by higher unit sales of light truck and SUV tires, supported by additional production capacity for these tires resulting from the recent reconfiguration of manufacturing capacity.”
Cooper says its overall light vehicle tire shipments in the U.S. increased 8.2% in the quarter, compared to Rubber Manufacturers Association figures that showed a 5.3% increase, and total non-RMA industry shipments which increased 4.8%.
