Goodyear Tire & Rubber reported on April 29 a first-quarter loss and said 3,800 jobs had been cut under a restructuring program aimed at putting the US tire maker back on the road to profits. Goodyear said it had a first-quarter net loss of 333 million dollars, or 1.38 dollars per share, in line with analyst expectations.
It was the second consecutive quarterly loss for the Akron, Ohio-based company, which had swung into a full-year net loss of 77 million dollars in 2008 as US auto sales plunged amid a recession and tight credit. A year ago, Goodyear posted net income of 147 million dollars, or 60 cents per share.
"Our markets presented us with the challenges we expected in the first quarter, and in some cases more," said Robert Keegan, chairman and chief executive. "While we aren't satisfied with our results, they generally reflect the difficult market conditions," he said in a statement.
Sales plunged 28 percent, to 3.54 billion dollars, largely due to weak tire demand and unfavourable currency exchange conditions, the company said. The company had record sales of 4.9 billion in the 2008 first quarter. The 3,800 jobs eliminated in the first three months were part of a restructuring plan announced in February that called for the elimination of 5,000 jobs and a salary freeze in 2009. The manufacturer had slashed 4,000 jobs in the final six months of 2008. Goodyear said it took an after-tax charge of 57 million dollars for asset write-offs and other items in the first quarter, and reported cost savings of 145 million dollars.
Goodyear said it had made "significant progress" toward its goal of reducing inventory by more than 500 million dollars during 2009. The company's total inventory is more than 300 million dollars below the year-end 2008 level.