Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.'s full-year 2020 sales declined 12.3% from 2019. The company's operating profit declined 37.8%, 2020 versus 2019.
"In Yokohama’s tires segment, full-year sales revenue and business profit were down from the previous year, but original equipment business in Japan displayed gradual improvement in the fiscal second half and full-year sales in China increased over the previous year," say company officials.
"Yokohama worked to buttress sales in replacement tires through the promotion of high-value-added products and other stratagems and sales of winter tires were robust in the fourth quarter. The COVID-19 pandemic affected business severely in the fiscal first half, however, and full-year sales declined in original equipment tires and in replacement tires."
Officials add that the Tokyo, Japan-based company "reversed the downward trend in earnings in the fourth quarter (October to December) and posted record-high October-December figures for business profit, operating profit and profit attributable to owners of parent.
"The upturn in profitability reflected improvements in the company’s structure of earnings, including reductions in fixed costs, and an overall improvement in production costs. The upturn in profitability also reflected the successful tailoring of marketing to regional circumstances and to trends in demand, increased production output and strong Japanese sales of winter tires."
The company is projecting 2021 full-year sales to total 620 billion yen, up 8.7% over previous-year levels, as well as a 38.7% increases in operating profit.
