Titan posts 3rd quarter net income loss, drop in sales

ERJ staff report (TB)

QUINCY, Ilinois -- Titan International Inc. suffered a net loss of $11.1 million for the third quarter, compared with $10.3 million in net income in the year-ago period, as sales plummeted 44.6 percent to $141.5 million.

For the nine-month period, ended Sept. 30, Titan's net income nosedived 94.2 percent to $1.83 million, compared with the year-ago period, as sales fell 25.3 percent to $581.1 million.

“I believe that the third quarter was the bottom of the downtrend in the construction and farm markets,” said Titan Chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr.

“While the earthmoving and construction segment has been experiencing decline due to various factors in the construction, infrastructure and housing markets in 2009, the agricultural segment has more recently moved lower. I believe inventory reduction is over and business will start to slowly grow during the next four quarters, but anyone who knows this business knows it can turn on a dime….

“As many of Titan's major customers implemented extended shutdowns during the period, we in turn extended scheduled shutdowns at our production facilities to manage lower demand and bring down inventory levels,” he said.

The Quincy-based company also reported that its total debt, as of Sept. 30, was $193.8 million, a reduction of 14 percent or $31.2 million vs. $225.0 million on Dec. 31, 2008.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

Press release /a> from Titan