Yokohama Rubber raises full-year guidance on strong first-half performance

Hiratsuka, Japan – Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) has raised its full-year earnings guidance for 2026 after reporting “record” first-half sales and business profit.

The group now expects sales to reach Yen1,320 billion (€7.2 billion), 1.5% higher than its May forecast and 6.8% above 2025 full-year revenue.

Business profit guidance has been increased to Yen192.5 billion, up 2.4% compared to the group forecast in May and 15.5% higher than the previous year.

For the six months ended 30 June, group sales increased 10.4% year-on-year to Yen639.4 billion, while business profit rose 54.3% to Yen96 billion, YRC reported 10 Aug.

The tire business accounted for just under 91% of group sales, with revenue rising 10.8% year-on-year to Yen580.4 billion, while business profit increased 57.2% to Yen89.0 billion.

Within the tire business, consumer tire sales rose 14.8% to Yen213.6 billion, as business profit increased 83.1% to Yen26 billion.

Here, YRC said, OE sales increased year-on-year, with stronger sales in Japan offsetting continued weakness in Japanese car makers’ sales in China.

Replacement tire sales also increased, supported by higher sales of high-inch and other high-value-added tires in Europe, as well as efforts to develop new customers and expand business with existing customers across regions.

The off-highway-tires (OHT) unit, part of the broader Tires business, reported a 21.2% increase in business profit to Yen6.3 billion, on 7% higher sales of Yen54.9 billion.

The unit delivered sales growth despite a “difficult demand environment,” said YRC.

The operations, it said, “strictly adhered to its policy of securing a revenue structure that is unaffected by demand cycles, increased sales while maintaining high profitability, and flexibly raised prices to reflect recent increases in raw material costs.”

Replacement OHT tire sales also grew, supported by the YRC's multi-brand strategy, including Mitas and Alliance, and “aggressive launches of new products produced strong sales, especially in North America.”

The multiple businesses (MB) segment increased sales 6.9% year-on-year to Yen54.9 billion, while business profit rose 21.2% to Yen6.3 billion.

Here, growth was supported by stronger hose and coupling sales in Japanese and overseas replacement markets, while the industrial products business increased sales of conveyor belts and aerospace products.

Other businesses generated sales of Yen4.2 billion, down 2.3% year-on-year, while business profit increased 25.0% to Yen0.5 billion.

Overall, the group linked the strong increase in first-half business profit to higher sales of high-value-added and high-inch consumer tires, increased volumes in the “highly profitable” OHT business, improved profitability in existing MB businesses and group-wide cost reductions and structural reforms.