Bridgestone 2002 Annual Report Download - page 8

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06
The revitalization of Bridgestone Americas has been remarkable and has proceeded
even faster than management had projected. Coming off a $1.7 billion after-tax deficit
in 2001, the company posted an after-tax profit of $83 million in 2002. A big part of
that progress is attributable to write-downs of fixed assets and other special charges
in 2001. But Bridgestone Americas has also achieved a turnaround in operating prof-
itability. The Bridgestone Group recorded operating income of ¥18.6 billion ($155 mil-
lion) in the Americas in 2002, compared with an operating loss of ¥33.6 billion in 2001.
Management regards this earnings improvement as evidence that Bridgestone Americas
is on the road to recovery and that the company will fulfill its potential for even higher
profitability.
Leading the renewed growth at Bridgestone Americas have been strong sales of
Bridgestone-brand tires. Those tires are generally premium-grade products, so their
unit growth yields an especially large contribution to sales value and to earnings. The
Bridgestone and Firestone brands account for about two-thirds of unit tire sales at
Bridgestone Americas, with Dayton and other supplementary brands accounting for the
remainder.
Bridgestone Americas’ business with automakers is shifting to the Bridgestone brand
amid a general trend toward higher-value tires. The Firestone brand retains an extreme-
ly high profile in the replacement market, and Bridgestone Americas is making the most
of that advantage through new-product introductions and vigorous marketing. Unit sales
of Firestone-brand tires in the North American replacement market began growing again
in the second half of 2002.
Back in the black in the
Geographical
Priorities