Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. posted net income of more than 6.5 billion yen on net sales of 142.7 billion yen for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013. That compares to income of 3.7 billion yen on sales of 124.1 billion yen for the same period last year.
Based on the exchange rate on Sept. 30, 2013, Yokohama recorded net income of $67 million on net sales of more than $1.2 billion for 3Q 2013. Its income-to-sales ratio was 4.6%.
Yokohama's operating income was up 73.7%, from 6.4 billion yen to 10.8 billion yen.
For the first three quarters, Yokohama posted net income of 19.6 billion yen on net sales of 412.4 billion yen. Its operating income was 29.9 billion yen.
The totals for net income, net sales and operating income were Yokohama's highest ever in the nine-month period from January to September. In 2011, the company shifted to calendar-year accounting from April-to-March accounting.
Driving the record nine-month sales performance were gains in Yokohama's core tire operations, led by unit growth in North America and China. Nine-month sales in tire operations increased 4.9% over the same period of the previous year, to 323.3 billion yen, and operating income increased 1.8%, to 22 billion yen.
In Japan, sales of original equipment tires slackened, reflecting the end of government incentives for purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles and Japanese automakers' ongoing shift of production overseas. Yokohama maintained its unit sales volume in Japan's replacement tire market, but a market shift toward lower-priced tires and escalating price competition diminished the yen value of sales. In Russia, Yokohama's sales declined.
The nine-month gains in sales and profitability also benefited from declining prices for raw materials and the weakening of the yen.
For the full year, Yokohama abides by the projections that it announced in August: net income of 36 billion yen, up 10.4%; net sales of 610 billion yen, up 9%; and operating income of 59 billion yen, up 18.7%.
The company also announced that the annual dividend will total 22 yen per share: an interim dividend of 10 yen and a year-end dividend of 12 yen.
