Bridgestone Q1 income down, sales up

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp.'s operating income fell 5% in the quarter ended 31 March, due in large part to rising raw materials costs, while sales increased 3.2%.

Operating income fell to $906.4 million (€835 million) on sales of $7.49 billion, Bridgestone said, yielding an operating ratio of 12.1%, down a point from the 2016 first quarter.

Net income was up 4.4% to $521 million. Increased raw materials costs had a negative effect of $167.5 million on earnings, the firm reported.

Bridgestone's tire segment reported a 4.8% drop in operating income to $840.8 million on 4.1% higher sales of $6.23 billion.

Bridgestone attributed the higher tire segment sales to increased demand for both consumer and commercial tires in Europe and Asia/Pacific and for commercial tires in Japan and the Americas, as well as rebounding demand for large and ultra-large OTR tires globally.

Unit sales of passenger and light truck tires were unchanged in North America from the 2016 period, the firm noted.

Sales revenue in the Americas was up 1.8% to $3.66 billion. By contrast, sales in Japan slipped 1.6% to $2.25 billion. Comparisons for Europe and Asia/Pacific were not disclosed due to changes in the scope of consolidation; Asia/Pacific, for example, no longer includes results from Russia, which are now reported as part of the firm's Europe/Middle East/Africa segment.