Recovering from a three-month long United Steelworkers strike that ended Jan. 2, 2007, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported a first-quarter loss of $110 million. The company noted that sales from continuing operations increased 1% to $4.5 billion, as its global businesses offset weak revenue from the North American operation.
Revenue from Goodyear’s North American tire business fell 11% from 1Q 2006, due to the strike. The tire maker estimated it lost $34 million in the first quarter due to the strike.
“Our recovery from the strike is going much better than expected,” said Robert Keegan, Goodyear chairman & CEO. “We restored production faster than anticipated and weaker consumer OE demand enabled us to sell more high-value-added tires into the replacement market.”
In addition to the strike, the loss in the 2007 quarter was also impacted by after-tax curtailment charges of $64 million due to salaried benefit plan changes and $31 million for rationalizations, including depreciation related to previously announced plant closures.
