Cooper Tire Outruns Estimates – Analyst Blog

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (CTB) posted a profit of $18 million or 20 cents per share in the first quarter of 2010 compared with a loss of $23 million or 35 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago. With this, the company has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 14 cents per share.

 

Revenues in the quarter rose substantially by 32% to $754 million. Operating profit was $33 million for the quarter versus a loss of $16 million in the prior-year quarter. The results improved due to higher volumes and increased utilization of manufacturing capacity.

 

North American Tire Operations generated sales of $532 million, 21% higher than the year-ago quarter. The U.S. Light Vehicle tire shipments in the segment increased 19%, outpacing the rise in total industry shipment by 13%. Operating profit for the quarter improved to $14 million compared with an operating loss of $4 million in the same period of 2009.

 

International Tire Operations reported sales of $294 million in the quarter, a drastic increase of 77% from the first quarter of 2009. Sales volumes in the Asian operations rose 102%, while the same in the European operations increased 20%. Operating profit for the segment was $23 million compared with an operating loss of $3 million during the first quarter of 2009.

 

Cooper Tire had cash and cash equivalents of $337.5 million as of March 31, 2010, up from $233 million as of the year-ago period. Long-term debt amounted to $332 million as of that date. The long-term debt to capitalization ratio remained unchanged at 42% compared with the period ended December 31, 2009.