Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. exceeded $2 billion in full-year segment operating income for the first time in its 117-year history. The North American business unit was a big reason for that.
In North America (made up of the U.S. and Canada), Goodyear recorded segment operating income of $1.1 billion, up 38% compared to 2014. Overall, the company's segment operating income totaled just over $2 billion, up 18% versus the previous year.
Segment operating margin was also up, as were tire units. Sales were down 3.8%. Here are the comparative results for fiscal 2015 compared to 2014.
Tire units: 61.6% (up 0.8%).
Sales: $7.7 billion (down 3.8%).
Segment operating income: $1.1 billion (up 38%).
Segment operating margin: 14.3% (up from 9.9%).
North America’s fourth-quarter 2015 sales decreased 9%, from $2.1 billion to $1.9 billion. According to Goodyear, sales reflect a 4% decrease in tire unit volume, from 16 million to 15.4 million, primarily due to the sale of the former Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America Ltd. business. Replacement tire unit volume was down 1%. Original equipment volume was down 8%.
Fourth-quarter 2015 segment operating income of $266 million was a 16% improvement over the prior year and a fourth-quarter record. The improvement was primarily driven by favorable price/mix net of raw materials, as well as cost reduction actions.
The sale of Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America negatively impacted North America volumes by approximately 400,000 units (2% of the total), sales by $61 million and segment operating income by $10 million.
Company-wide, Goodyear posted net income of nearly $307 million on net sales of 16.4 billion for fiscal 2015 ended Dec. 30, 2015. That compares to income of $2.4 billion on sales of $18.1 billion for fiscal 2014.
For more information on Goodyear's fiscal year 2015 results, check out this link:
"Goodyear Describes Results as Outstanding Despite 4Q loss."
