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Goodyear earnings steady
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October 13, 1998: 10:08 a.m. ET
But stronger dollar, Asian and Latin American woes put brakes on sales
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. earnings managed to keep pace with expectations, but the continuing strength of the dollar held back its sales for the quarter.
Goodyear, a Dow component, said Tuesday that its third-quarter income was $185 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with $184 million, or $1.16 per share, a year earlier.
The latest earnings exactly matched First Call's consensus of analysts' expectations.
While the company's unit sales increased 6.1 percent in North America and Europe, they fell elsewhere.
In Latin America, quarterly sales fell to $337 million from $403 million a year ago. In the struggling Asia market, sales went into a severe slump, dropping to $146 million from more than $2 billion a year ago.
The company blamed the stronger dollar for some of the weaker sales. Worldwide, third-quarter sales were $3.2 billion, down from $3.3 billion in 1997, with currency troubles lowering sales by an estimated $110 million.
Goodyear (GT) tried to soften the blow two weeks ago by saying currency woes would weaken its sales.
It also said one-time costs due to the continued effect of the General Motors Corp. (GM) strike, the costs to convert North America plants to seven-day operations, and Year 2000 issues also would hold its results back.
However, Goodyear didn't sit still during the quarter. It was especially busy in the Asian market, acquiring controlling interests in Sava Tire, Nippon Giant and South Asia Tyres.
Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear makes and sells tires and rubber products and also provides automotive repair services. 
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