Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. reported net income of 1.6 billion yen on net sales of 407.8 billion yen for its fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2015. That compares to income of 31.2 billion yen on net sales of 393.8 billion yen for fiscal 2014.
Based on the exchange rate for Dec. 31, 2015, Toyo recorded income of $13.9 million on sales of more than $3.4 billion for its fiscal 2015. The company’s income-to-sales ratio was 0.4 %
Net income decreased 94.6%. Operating income increased 33.4%, and net sales were up 3.6%.
Tire business unit
Toyo’s tire business unit posted the following year-over-year results:
* net sales of 325.5 billion yen ($2.7 billion), up 4.3%
* operating income of 58.0 billion yen (481.5 million), up 28%.
Toyo says tire unit sales in North America remained unchanged compared with the same period a year ago amid favorable North American automobile sales bolstered by a gentle economic recovery. Due to healthy sales of the company's core Open Country A/T II, Nitto brand Terra Grappler and next generation Terra Grappler G2 tires in the high-value-added SUV product category, net sales increased over last year.
In Europe, unit sales equaled those of the previous year with the introduction of the new Open Country A/T Plus to meet demand for SUVs and 4x4s, but worsening market conditions caused net sales to decline from the same period a year ago.As a result, for the overseas market overall unit sales declined compared to last year while net sales exceeded the performance of the same period a year ago.
Outlook
In the tire segment, backed by expanded production capacity at Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc., Toyo’s North American tire production subsidiary, the company says it will focus on further increasing sales of tires for light trucks and SUVs, which continue to sell well.
Toyo will use its Malaysian tire production base, which expanded supply capacity last year, to increase exports to countries taking advantage of free trade agreements in the growing Southeast Asian region while continuing to increase sales in North America, Europe, Russia and other key markets.
For 2016, the company projects consolidated sales of 420 billion yen and net income of 30 billion yen.
Toyo restructured its management team in 2015 following revelations that it falsified performance data of defective earthquake shock absorbers that were installed in buildings. The company posted an extraordinary loss of 46.7 billion yen related to replacing the defective materials 2015.
