Cooper Tire posts loss of 1 a share

11/8/2005

FINDLAY Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. yesterday reported losing $840,000 in the third quarter, or a penny a share, because it sold fewer car tires, grappled with higher raw material costs, and had higher interest expenses.

Last year, the firm had a third-quarter profit of $9.9 million, or 13 cents a share. This quarter s sales rose 1 percent to $557.8 million, the Fortune 500 company said, after it raised prices and improved product mix.

North American tire sales started to pick up in September, but not enough, and prices will increase by up to 5 percent Dec. 1 to help offset raw material costs, the company said.

It was a tough quarter in terms of sales, Thomas Dattilo, Cooper Tire s chairman, president, and chief executive of the Findlay company, said yesterday during a conference call.