Bridgestone Corporation Announces 2002
Full Year Forecast
Bridgestone/Firestone Shows Strong Turnaround
in Americas Market
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December
4, 2002) – Bridgestone Corporation
today announced its revised full year 2002 forecast for its consolidated
and unconsolidated business, updating its projections originally announced
in August of this year. It also disclosed its full year projections
for its U.S. subsidiary, Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc.
(BFAH). The parent company forecasted consolidated net sales of more
than $18 billion and net income of $322.2 million (based on today’s
reported exchange rate of ¥124.15/US$1). While the revised sales
forecast is slightly better than the August projection, the net income
figure is about 40% lower than the earlier projection due to a special
charge of approximately US$399 million in connection with a restructuring
of Bridgestone’s European operations.
For 2002, BFAH full year sales and
operating income are expected to total $7.6 billion and $190 million,
respectively, on target with the August 2002 forecast. Net income is
projected at $70 million, up over the August 2002 forecast of $50 million
and in sharp contrast to 2001’s full year $1.67 billion loss.
Echoing his comments made earlier
in August, Mike Gorey, Controller and Vice President of BFAH said, “Although
the company’s performance is not yet where we ultimately want
it to be, the numbers clearly show that we’ve stabilized the business
and our comeback is well ahead of schedule. A lot of the credit goes
to the hard work of our 51-thousand employees and our loyal stores and
dealers across the Americas.”
In addition to the discussion of BFAH’s
financial results, Bridgestone Corporation also announced that the name
of the holding companies in both Europe and the Americas would be changed
effective January 1, 2003. In order to build a strong, high performance
corporate identity under the Bridgestone name, while allowing the businesses
to build strong brand identities for their products under, primarily,
the Bridgestone and Firestone names, the European and Americas operations
will be renamed Bridgestone Europe SA and Bridgestone Americas Holding,
Inc., respectively.
Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone
Americas Holding, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation,
the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFAH, through its
subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of Bridgestone,
Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires to address the
needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive
and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers and those in
the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies also
produce Firestone air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and
industrial fibers and textiles and operate the world’s largest
chain of automotive tire and services centers.
