In the Yokohama Rubber Co.‘s first-quarter (January to March) fiscal results for 2021, the company reported an approximately eight-fold increase in business profit, to 14.5 billion yen (approx. $132.69 million); and a 15.9% increase in sales revenue, to 149.6 billion yen (approx. $1.369 billion). All of these figures were record-high totals for Yokohama, the company says.
First-quarter sales revenue and business profit in Yokohama’s Tires segment increased over the same period of the previous year, when they declined, and over the same period of 2019. Sales revenue in original equipment tires increased as growth in China more than offset declines in Japan and in North America. The sales growth in China reflected resurgent demand, whereas the declines in Japan and in North America reflected the adverse effect of shortages of semiconductor devices on vehicle production volume.
In replacement tires, sales revenue rose in Japan and overseas. The company says that growth was testimony to promotion of high-value-added products and expanded production to meet robust demand. Early-year snowfalls in Japan supported strong sales of winter tires there, and the overseas sales growth featured especially strong gains in China, Europe and Asian nations besides Japan.
Yokohama says it plans to grow using its medium-term management plan announced in February 2021, Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023). That plan calls for increasing sales revenue to 700 billion yen (approx. $6.41 billion) and business profit to 70 billion yen (approx. $641 million) by 2023. It calls for achieving those targets by exploiting strengths in established operations and by exploring new value for fulfilling needs in an era of profound change.
Yokohama is striving under YX2023 to maximize the sales ratio of high-value-added tires in its consumer tire business. That effort focuses on three core product categories: high-performance tires marketed under Yokohama’s global flagship brand, Advan; Geolandar tires, for sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks; and winter tires.
Sales revenue and business profit in Yokohama’s ATG segment increased to their highest-ever levels, the company says. The ATG segment comprises business in off-highway tires for agricultural machinery, industrial machinery and other applications, and the strong first-quarter performance reflected robust demand in those product sectors.
