Titan´s quarterly, 2006 sales rise on acquisitions

Quincy, Illinois - Titan International Inc. posted double digit gains in its sales for the fourth quarter and year in 2006 on contributions from its farm and off-the-road acquisitions, but the firm lost ground on earnings.

For the full year, sales rose 44.5 percent to $679.5 million from $470.1 million in 2005. Quincy-based Titan attributed the gains to the expanded product offering from its purchase of Goodyear´s North American farm tyre business and Continental Tire North America Inc.´s Bryan, Ohio, OTR tyre plant.

Sales in Titan´s agricultural segment rose 35.7 percent to $421.1 million for the year. Sales in its earthmoving/construction segment soared 38.9 percent to $183.4 million.

Titan previously had announced that it is converting about one-third of its farm tyre production at its plant in Freeport, Illinois, to OTR tyre production, and plans to produce more than $200 million in OTR tyres this year.

Despite the sales gains, Titan posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of $9.54 million compared with a net loss of $5.54 million for the prior period. The full year ended in the black at $5.14 million, but the result is 53.4 percent down from 2005´s net income of $11 million.

Gross margin for the year rose to $72.8 million from $64.2 million.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)