TBC says there's strength in numbers

Jan. 11, 2008

Senior management of TBC Corp. used its TBC Private Brands Meeting in Desert Springs, Calif., as an opportunity to showcase its size and financial strength within the market.

"In 2006, TBC enjoyed another record sales and bottom line year," said TBC CEO and President Larry Day.

"For 2007, which ends March 31, 2008, we’ll enjoy another record sales year -- somewhere in the area of $2.6 billion. And in a fairly difficult environment, we’ll once again show record earnings."

Michihisa Shinagawa, president and CEO of Sumitomo Corp. of America (SCOA), which owns TBC, said his company's acquisition of TBC in 2005 "was a milestone for Sumitomo and the largest investment that the company has made, to date.

"This acquisition was significant for Sumitomo, not only for its size of the financial investment, but also a strategy to transform our business. This deal gave us the chance to take our experience in the wholesale tire division business and combine it with TBC to become the recognized leader in the replacement tire industry in North America."

Shinagawa said Sumitomo worldwide’s total consolidated revenue for 2006 was $27 billion while SCOA had $5.4 billion in sales.

“We have great expectations for TBC expansion in the coming years. We’ve invested with a long-term view to create new value and to move our business forward. We envisioned our acquisition of TBC as a... building block to grow in the replacement tire market in North America."

Ken Dick, President and CEO of TBC Wholesale, gave details about the company's relatively new mixing warehouse in Tanjin, China. Though the warehouse has been operating for nearly a year, he said distributors would be able to order a full container load of tires and take delivery in four to five weeks when the facility becomes fully operational.

Both TBC and Treadways distributors will be able to take advantage of the new mixing warehouse, he added.

In addition, TBC intends to increase its distribution of Sailun branded tires. Currently, the company sells Sailun truck tires as a third tier product line. TBC is working with Sailun Company Ltd. of China to develop a complete line of passenger and light truck tires for distribution in North America.