Cooper Tire & Rubber Q1 Profit, Sales Fall - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (CTB) Friday said its first-quarter net income attributable to the company fell to $41 million or $0.69 per share from $45 million or $0.71 per share reported last year.

On average, 7 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.77 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales fell to $663 million from $796 million in the first quarter of 2014. Analysts expected revenues of $682.62 million.

The sales decline was due to the absence of CCT, the company's former joint venture in China, which was divested in the fourth quarter of 2014. CCT contributed $157 million to net sales, net of intercompany eliminations, in the first quarter of 2014.

Excluding CCT, sales rose 4 percent as a result of higher unit volume of $35 million, which was partially offset by negative foreign exchange of $7 million.

Roy Armes, Cooper's Chairman, CEO and President, said, "Our first quarter performance continued the positive trends we saw last year. The Americas segment posted outstanding results, with solid unit volume growth and an operating margin of 15 percent, well above our target. With the strong Americas performance, we came close to last year's earnings per share despite the absence of CCT in the quarter."

Looking forward, the company expects to deliver full year operating margin in a range of 8 percent to 10 percent.