From Tire Review magazine, a sister publication to aftermarketNews.com

AKRON, OH — Nokian Tyres, Hankook and Bandag were the tire industry’s top performers in 2003 in terms of earnings as a percentage of sales, while Goodyear, Titan International, Bridgestone Americas Holding and Alliance Tire anchored the bottom of the list.

Nokian converted 9.01 percent of its sales into net profit, while Titan posted a loss of $36.7 million against sales of $491.7 million, up 6.2 percent over 2002. Even though its sales were down 10.3 percent vs. 2002, Bandag’s profit line grew by $57.4 million, and represented 7.4 percent of sales. Hankook dropped 8.6 percent of its sales to the bottom line.

Here is a rundown of 2003 sales and net profits for the industry’s public companies (2002 results are in parenthesis; N/A = Not announced or not available):

Alliance Tire – Sales: $99.7 million ($93.5 million), Profits: $1.23 million (-$13.1 million);

American Tire Distributors – Sales: $1.11 billion ($1.06 billion), Profit: $48.2 million ($40.2 million);

Bandag – Sales: $816.4 million ($901 million), Profit: $60.2 million ($2.8 million);

Bridgestone Corp. – Sales: $21.5 billion ($18.9 billion), Profit: $829.1 million ($328.9 million);

Bridgestone Americas Holding – Sales: $8.2 billion ($7.6 billion), Profit: $78 million ($83 million);

Continental AG – Sales: $13.03 billion ($10.9 billion), Profit: $355.7 million ($251.6 million);

Continental Tire North America – Sales: N/A (N/A), Profits: N/A (N/A);

Cooper Tire & Rubber – Sales: $3.5 billion ($3.3 billion), Profits: $74 million ($112 million);

Cooper Tire – Sales: $1.9 billion ($1.8 billion), Profits: $88 million ($137 million);

Federal Tire – Sales: N/A ($103.4 million), Profit: N/A (N/A);

Goodyear Tire & Rubber – Sales: $15.1 billion ($13.9 billion), Profits: -$802.1 million (-$1.2 billion);

Goodyear North American Tire – Sales: $6.8 billion ($6.7 billion), Profits: -128.7 million (-$57.1 million);

Hankook Tire Co. – Sales: $1.41 billion (N/A), Profits: $120.6 million (N/A);

Kumho Tire Co. – Sales: N/A ($1.28 billion), Profits: N/A ($104 million);

Groupe Michelin – Sales: $17.4 billion ($14.9 billion), Profits: $371.8 million ($585.8 million);

Myers Industries – Sales: $661 million ($608 million), Profits: $16.3 million ($24 million);

Nokian Tyres – Sales: $663.9 million ($457.2 million), Profits: $59.8 million ($45.8 million);

Pirelli SpA – Sales: $7.55 billion ($6.01 billion), Profits: $310 million ($456.1 million);

Sumitomo Rubber Industries – Sales: $4.21 billion ($3.58 billion), Profits: $122.3 million ($65.8 million);

TBC – Sales: $1.3 billion ($1.1 billion), Profits: $33.4 million ($27.4 million);

Titan International – Sales: $491.7 million ($462.8 million), Profits: -$36.7 million (-$35.9 million);

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. – Sales: $2.26 billion (N/A), Profits: $48.8 million (N/A).

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