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Goodyear skids in 3Q
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October 24, 2000: 11:29 a.m. ET
Tire maker posts 4-cents-a-share loss vs. year-ago profit; cites rising oil costs
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the world's biggest tire maker, on Tuesday reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss as higher costs for raw materials, the euro's falling value and expenses from a European restructuring deflated the company's bottom line.
The Akron, Ohio-based company posted a net loss of $6.6 million, or 4 cents a diluted share, compared with net income of $109.1 million, or 69 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by First Call had expected the company to lose 2 cents a share.
Sales rose to $3.5 billion from $3.2 billion.
Goodyear pointed mainly to escalating costs for raw materials -- namely higher oil prices -- for its lackluster third quarter. In the past year, the price of crude oil per barrel has more than tripled to as high as $37 per barrel from $12 per barrel.
 "High raw material costs, especially those for oil-derived products, remain a major factor in our results," Samir G. Gibara, Goodyear's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Third-quarter earnings were approximately 40 cents per share lower than they would have been if these costs had remained at 1999 levels."
The declining value of the euro against the dollar, which hurts the European sales for American companies that report revenues in dollars, also hammered a nail in the company's profits. Reduced demand from car manufacturers for new tires, costs associated with closing plants in Europe and a large gain that beefed up year-earlier earnings also contributed to the quarter's loss, Gibara said.
Its quarterly loss came despite the sudden rush to replace 6.5 million recalled tires made by competitor Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. Bridgestone/Firestone in August issued the second-largest tire recall in U.S. history in response to complaints that the tires may be linked to fatal crashes involving S/UVs.
Shares of Goodyear (GT: Research, Estimates) fell 50 cents in midmorning trading Tuesday to $16.45, only 85 cents above its 52-week low of $15.60. 
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