Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. recorded net income of 3.6 billion yen on net sales of 82.8 billion yen for its first quarter of fiscal 2007 ended June 30, 2007. That compares to income of 8.1 billion yen on sales of 73.9 billion yen for the same period a year ago.
(Based on the exchange rate on June 29, 2007, Toyo posted net income of $29.5 million on net sales of $672 million of for the first quarter.)
In addition to the 12% increase in sales, Toyo's operating income increased 22.2% to 4.2 billion yen, while ordinary income increased 54.3% to 4.2 billion yen. The company credits the increases to "the strong performance of the tire business on the overseas markets."
Net sales within the tire segment increased by 8.6 billion yen to 58.4 billion yen, up 17.3% compared to the same period of fiscal 2006. Here are the tire segment highlights.
* Sales of original equipment tires were comparatively down "due to decreased production of car models equipped with Toyo's products."
* In Japan, despite slow domestic demand, vigorous efforts to boost sales resulted in flat rather than decreased tire sales.
* The volume of overseas sales, centering mainly on the North American market, substantially surpassed the previous fiscal year's first-quarter levels.
Based on its first-quarter results, Toyo has revised its projections for its fiscal first half ending Sept. 30, 2007. It has increased its estimates for net income (from 400 million yen to 3.9 billion yen), net sales (from 164 billion yen to 172 billion yen) and operating income (from 3 billion yen to 5.8 billion yen).
"A greater-than-expected depreciation of the yean and the benefits of our cost reduction efforts have caused net sales, operating income, ordinary income and net income to exceed their May 15, 2007, forecasts on both a consolidated and non-consolidated basis," says the company.
