Q1 sales slump of 37 percent pushes Nokian into the red

ERJ staff report (DS)

Helsinki, Finland -- Nokian Tyres reported the biggest first-quarter sales decline among the tyre majors today, reporting sales down by 36.8 percent, to Euro 155.6 million. For the three months to March 2009, thecompany also recorded an operating loss of euro 2.7 million, compared to a profit of euro 54 million a year ago.

Kim Gran, President and CEO said, "Sales went down in line with the market, particularly in Russia, but we were able to maintain our market shares in all core markets." He added, "The strong devaluation of currencies and measures to limit currency related risks in our core market regions weakened our financial performance in the first quarter. The deployed price increases and seasonal mix improvement with higher share of winter tyres will improve average prices and profits from the second quarter on.

Gran said, "The after market sales for passenger car tyres declined in the Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe. Tyre deliveries shrank drastically in Russia and the CIS countries, trailing the declining car sales.

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Press release from Nokian