Titan International’s 2015 financial results show a down year for the tiremaker.
Hit hard were Titan’s sales. The tiremaker reported a sales decrease of 26.4% year over year with $1,394.8 million in 2015 compared to $1,895.5 million in 2014.
Gross profit was also down. Titan reported profits of $137.8 million in 2015 versus $140.6 million in 2014.
“2015 was a challenging year. Sales dropped $500 million due to reduced demand in the agriculture, construction and mining markets, combined with the substantial decline in currency values in Brazil, Europe and Russia,” said Maurice Taylor, CEO and chairman of Titan International.
Taylor said oil, steel and rubber prices helped Titan reduce its overall costs, as well as staff reductions. He said the tiremaker will continue to make tough decisions to improve the overall operating profit of all its facilities worldwide.
Taylor expects Titan’s revenue to grow in 2016, driven by its LWS products and the addition of the Goodyear brand in Europe and Russia.
“Looking ahead is always a guess and looking back is always easy. In the wheel and tire business, I have never seen a period where our markets have dropped like they have, but I have also never seen a time in history where Titan has been this well positioned going forward,” Taylor shared.
