Nexen reports rise in profits, tire production

Seoul – Nexen Tire Corp. has reported an 18-percent year-on-year rise in its annual operating earnings in 2014 due to effects of lower raw materials costs and slightly higher sales.

Operating income rose to $198.7 million (€175 million) on 1.7 percent higher sales of $1.68 billion, the company reported.

Revenue growth, said Nexen, was limited by lower replacement market demand in the US and Europe. Tire production, on the other hand, jumped 7.1 percent to 34.9 million units.

Nexen noted in its unaudited fourth quarter results report that the manufacturing utilization rate at its Korea No. 1 plant fell because of lower sales in the US market.

However, the company predicted that the anti-dumping duties being imposed by the US government on imports from China should help this recover.

Nexen said it anticipates stable raw materials prices throughout 2015 based on the oil price forecasts.