Despite a decrease in sales, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. reported a $100 million increase in net income year-over-year, nearing the company’s 2012 levels.
Cooper reported a $214 million net income in 2014, up from 2013’s $111 million but still down from 2012’s $220.4 million. Sales for the company were recorded at $3.42 billion in 2014, down from 2013’s $3.44 billion and 2012’s $4.20 billion.
Results from 2013 are not representative of the business under normal conditions, noted the tiremaker. During 2013, the company was impacted by a number of circumstances, including labor actions at Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co. Ltd. (CCT), the company’s former joint venture in China.
Cooper’s North American tire operations posted increased net sales to $2.59 billion from $2.49 billion in 2013. Those numbers haven’t quite reached the unit’s 2012 numbers of $3.1 billion.
“In 2015 we will continue our focus on exploring opportunities to expand our presence in Asia after the sale of our interest in the joint venture, so as to benefit from a more sizeable footprint in that high-growth market,” said Roy Armes, Cooper’s chairman, CEO and president.
Cooper’s board of directors also authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of the company’s outstanding common stock through Dec. 31, 2016. The repurchase program demonstrates Cooper’s “continuing commitment to our overarching goal of delivering value to shareholders,” said Armes.
According to a press release from the tiremaker, Cooper recently completed a $200 million accelerated share repurchase program announced in August 2014. Under that program, the company bought approximately 6.4 million shares at an average price of $31.49 per share. As of Feb. 19, 2015, Cooper had approximately 57.4 million outstanding common shares.
