Mixed fortunes for Stamford Tyres in FY2014

ERJ staff report (TP)

Singapore – Stamford Tyres announced a decrease of 8.5 per cent in the group’s total turnover of SGD$290.6 million (€174m) for FY2014 as compared to SGD$317.5 million for FY2013.

The firm said this was mainly due to softening demand for Sumo Firenza tires in Europe, and mining tires in Indonesia and South Africa. As a result of lower topline volume, the group generated a gross profit of SGD$66.2 million in FY2014 as compared to SGD$68.1 million in FY2013.

Despite the decrease, gross profit margin for FY2014 increased to 22.8% as compared to 21.4 per cent last year.

FY2014 refers to Stamford Tyres’ financial year from May 2013 to April 2014.

Stamford said that as a result of a revision in tax rules, it wrote-back SGD$2.2 million in deferred tax liabilities relating to plant and equipment in FY2014. For FY2014, it recorded a net profit of SGD$10.0 million as compared to SGD$11.6 million in FY2013. In line with its cost reduction strategy, the group recorded a 14.5% decline in operating expenses from SGD$67.4 million in FY2013 to SGD$57.6 million in FY2014.

The cash and cash equivalent of the group stood at SGD$18.6 million as at 30 April 2014 as compared to SGD$21.6 million as at last year. For FY2014, the group generated net operating cash flow of SGD$34.4 million as compared to SGD$17.4 million in FY2013. This is in line with the group’s strategy of rationalising its current assets and optimising its product mix.

Wee Kok Wah, president, said: “Stamford Tyres’ full-year financial results were commendable bearing in mind the challenging environment we operate in.

“In April this year, we opened a new commercial centre which is located next to our existing premises. With the new commercial centre, we are now not only the largest independent tires and wheels distributor in Singapore, but also the region. This will enable us to build on our core markets in South East Asia.”