Results for the first three months of the current financial year show Pirelli SpA revenues increasing 23.4% year-on-year to 1,401 million euros and a 43.3% growth in the company’s gross operating result to 203.4 million euros.

EBIT before restructuring charges was 146.5 million euros, compared with 90.2 million euros in the first quarter of 2010, while EBIT after restructuring charges was 143.3 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 63.6%. EBIT margin increased from 7.7% in the first quarter of 2010 to 10.2%.

For Pirelli Tyre, which accounts for 99.8% of all Pirelli group sales, the quarter saw a 24.7% year-on-year increase in sales to 1,384.5 million euros and further gains in profitability, which reached a record level of 11%, calculated as the operating result (EBIT) over sales; this result is, notes Pirelli, a “marked improvement” compared with 8.6% in the first quarter of 2010 and 9.8% in the fourth quarter.  

In the context of a market that grew overall, these results are credited to increasing proportions of premium products within Pirelli’s sales mix, the ability to leverage prices to offset increases in raw material costs and continuous improvements in efficiency.

In the consumer tire business – passenger, light truck and motorcycle – revenues grew 25.9% to 983.3 million euros; 9% of this increase came through volume, while price/mix contributed 14.6% and 2.3% occurred due to exchange rate effects.

The segment’s operating result before restructuring charges was 119.7 million euros compared with 69.5 million euros in the same period of 2010, with a margin on revenues of 12.2%, up from 8.9% in the first quarter a year earlier. (Tyres & Accessories)