The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company – GT – Business is on track to achieve its 2013 target, one year ahead of plan

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:GT) reported higher net income for the second quarter of 2012 than a year ago.

• Segment operating income up in 3 of 4 businesses
• Price/mix improvement drove revenue per tire up 8% over last year
• North American Tire operating income was $188 million, a record for any quarter
• North American Tire earnings a year ahead of plan

“Three of our businesses increased year-over-year operating income and margins in a difficult economic environment,” said Richard J. Kramer, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our improved ability to remain profitable through economic cycles is evident in our second quarter results and better positions us going forward given ongoing uncertainty in the global economic and policy environment,” he added.

“Our $336 million of segment operating income is a strong performance given global tire volumes that are similar to those we saw at the depths of the 2009 recession when the company reported a segment operating loss,” Kramer said. “It is clear evidence that our strategy is working.”

“North American Tire continues to build on the structural improvements we’ve made to the business and has achieved year-over-year increases in operating income for 12 consecutive quarters,” Kramer said. “The business is on track to achieve its 2013 target of $450 million in segment operating income this year, one year ahead of plan.”

Kramer said recessionary economic conditions in Europe continue to have a negative impact on tire industry volumes in the region. “We are taking actions to manage our European business through this tough environment and ensure we are well positioned for continued growth in targeted market segments,” he added.

“The long-term industry MegaTrends remain in place,” Kramer said. “We expect global tire demand to recover and we remain committed to our 2013 target of $1.6 billion in segment operating income.”

GT – Outlook

“We remain confident that long-term growth in the global tire industry will continue, but at a slower pace near term than previously forecast due to continued economic challenges, particularly in Europe,” Kramer said.

Goodyear now expects that its full-year tire unit volume for 2012 will be approximately 5 percent to 7 percent below 2011.

About Goodyear – GT

Goodyear (GT) is one of the world’s largest tire companies. GT employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 53 facilities in 22 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.