Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. reported a decline in both net income and sales for the first quarter ending March 31.

Net income fell to $51.7 million, down about 18 percent from 2013.

The firm reported net sales at $796 million, which is a $65 million decline from 2013, and operating profit came in at $81 million, $16 million lower than 2013 and 10.2 percent of net sales.

"Cooper is off to a strong start in 2014," said Roy Armes, chairman, president and CEO. "Our first quarter operating profit is the second best for a first quarter in our company’s history, topped only by last year’s first quarter when we set an all-time profit record."

Cooper said factors impacting operating profit in the first quarter included unfavorable pricing and mix of $96 million, which was partially offset by lower raw material costs of $67 million, manufacturing cost efficiencies of $11 million, higher unit volumes of $8 million and lower products liability costs of $2 million.

The firm’s North American tire operations achieved net sales of $563 million, down 6 percent from 2013. Cooper said unit shipments for the North American segment increased 5 percent compared to 2013.

International tire operations generated net sales of $310 million, down 9 percent from 2013. The firm said unit shipments decreased 2 percent with declines in Asia and Europe. The firm cited lingering effects of the earlier labor disruptions at its Cooper Chengshan Tire Co. Ltd. joint venture in Rongcheng, China, as a primary reason shipments were down.

Source: rubbernews.com