CLEVELAND — Goodyear easily topped Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter, but shares slid Tuesday with Europe dragging down the tire maker’s outlook for 2013.
The Akron company lowered its full-year income outlook for 2013 from $1.6 billion to between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion.
The company broke even for the quarter, compared with net income of $18 million, or 7 cents per share, during the same period last year.
Revenue was $5 billion, down from $5.7 billion last year as a sluggish European economy led to a 16 percent drop in sales for the region.
Excluding charges, Goodyear earned 39 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Fact Set expected fourth-quarter earnings of 20 cents per share, excluding charges, on $5.34 billion in revenue.
Shares of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. slipped 5 cents to close at $13.86.
For the year, Goodyear earned $183 million, or 74cents per share, on revenue of $21 billion, down from 2011 net income of $321 million, or $1.26 per share, on revenue of $22.8 million.
The company, in a move similar to its strategy in North America, said it will cut about 6 million tire units of high cost capacity in Europe. The measure should result in about $75 million in annual profit improvement, Goodyear said.
Workers protesting layoffs fired flares and paint bombs, and riot police answered with tear gas in a standoff Tuesday at Goodyear’s French headquarters near Paris in Rueil-Malmaison.
Goodyear’s French operation announced plans last month to close a factory in Amiens in northern France, which could lead to 1,173 layoffs. Talks with a potential buyer for the plant reportedly broke down this week.
Hundreds of workers, many waving red union flags, confronted police who responded with spurts of tear gas. No injuries were reported.
Goodyear’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Kramer made his case for a European turnaround in a conference call with analysts.
“The successful execution of our transformation in North America is proof positive that we know how to do this,” Kramer said.
While there has been some recent stabilizing of the economy in Europe, “We believe there has yet to be a comprehensive and lasting solution to the euro crisis,” Kramer said. “The resulting slow economic growth will continue to dampen consumer demand.”
In its core North American market, segment operating income was up $95 million to$116 million, a fourth-quarter record, with an emphasis on high-end tires helping offset a 5 percent drop in the number of tires sold.
North American results were aided by lower raw material costs and savings from the shutdown of a high-cost Union City, Tenn., plant.
Information for this article was contributed by Thomas J. Sheeran of The Associated Press and Mathieu Rosemain of Bloomberg News.
Business, Pages 29 on 02/13/2013