Pirelli & Cie SpA posted sales of 2.13 billion euros for the first half of 2009 vs. 2.4 billion euros during the same period last year.
Pirelli's income for the half totaled 101.1 million euros, down from 180.9 million euros during the first half of 2008.
The company's Pirelli Tyre division achieved sales of 1.9 billion euros during the first six months of 2009. However, Pirelli reports that its second quarter revenues were up 6.7% over the same period in 2008.
The company "closed the second quarter with a progressive improvement in overall operating results compared to the first quarter," say Pirelli officials.
"Pirelli Tyre, after a first quarter conditioned by a marked contraction of the industrial segment in both sales channels (OE and replacement) and accentuation of the crisis in OE in the consumer segment, began to benefit in the second quarter from the positive impact of falling raw materials prices, from effiiciences carried out thanks to restructuring measures, and from the first signals of recovery in the market."
