Quarterlytics / Consumer Cyclical / Industrial Materials / Cooper Tire & Rubber

Cooper Tire & Rubber

ctb · NYSE Consumer Cyclical
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Ticker ctb
Exchange NYSE
Sector Consumer Cyclical
Industry Industrial Materials
Employees 10,000+
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FY2018 Annual Report · Cooper Tire & Rubber
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2018 ANNUAL REPORT

March 21, 2019

To our stockholders:

Cooper  is  pleased  to  have  demonstrated  our  ability  to  deliver  results  during  2018,  a  year  when  global  economic  and  tire  industry 
conditions continued to be challenging. 

We ended the year with consolidated net sales of $2.8 billion, a 1.6 percent decrease from 2017 and operating profit of $165 million, 
or 5.9 percent of net sales. Full year net income was $77 million, or diluted earnings per share of $1.51. This included a non-cash, 
goodwill impairment charge of $34 million in the fourth quarter. 

As  stated  at  the  beginning  of  2018,  we  expected  operating  margin  improvement  throughout  the  year,  and  we  delivered  on  this 
expectation as our strategic initiatives began to take hold. Unit volumes in the U.S. improved throughout the year, ending 2018 with 
two consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth. As previously disclosed, our decision to exit from some non-strategic private brand 
distributor business had an impact on our 2018 U.S. unit volume comparisons. Excluding this impact, Cooper would have outperformed 
the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) with unit volume growth in 2018 compared to 2017. 

We continued our strong record of share repurchases and dividend payments. In 2018, Cooper repurchased over one million shares of 
the company’s common stock for approximately $30 million. Additionally, Cooper distributed more than $20 million in regular quarterly 
dividends, and recently announced our 188th consecutive quarterly dividend. 

In 2018, we added significant talent to our Board of Directors and management team. Katy Dickson and Brian Walker joined our Board 
in October. Also, during the year, we enhanced our management team with the addition of Chris Eperjesy as Senior Vice President & 
Chief Financial Officer; Chris Ball as President, North America, and Alan Yang as Vice President & General Manager, Asia. All of these 
leaders are experienced global executives with expertise that will help us achieve our strategic objectives. 

At Cooper’s Investor Day on May 11, 2018, we outlined strategic initiatives and milestones. We are excited about the progress we 
have made:

New,  highly  attractive  product  launches:  Cooper  launched  many 
exciting new products in 2018. We are proud of the outstanding 
performance and industry-leading mileage the new Discoverer AT3™ 
family of tires delivers. This new line exceeded our expectations in 
the  market,  and  has  been  generating  great  consumer  feedback. 
Another  example  of  new  product  success  is  the  Discoverer  True 
North™ premium winter tire, which received a high performance 
ranking by an important consumer testing magazine. 

Performance  of  Cooper-branded  truck  and  bus  radial  (TBR) 
products:  Since  launching  in  May  2018,  we  have  seen  strong 
reception of this product line, including the announcement that 
Cooper TBR tires were selected as standard original equipment 
on Blue Bird® school buses. 

Stringent cost and cash management: Through a focused effort, 
Cooper  improved  working  capital  by  more  than  $20  million 
and meaningfully reduced the number of inventory units in the 
Americas by over 10 percent compared to 2017. 

Optimizing our global production capacity: Cooper is undertaking 
an assessment of our global manufacturing footprint, evaluating 
capacity,  technology  and  capabilities,  cost  structure  and  the 
potential  for  capital-efficient  expansion  in  each  region.  The 
Asia  review  was  completed  and  it  was  confirmed  that  we  are 
in line with our needs for the region. The Europe assessment 
determined  that  our  Melksham,  England  site  was  not  cost-
competitive,  and  as  a  result,  light  vehicle  tire  production  is 
being  phased  out  there,  which  should  improve  Cooper  Tire 
Europe’s profitability over time. Finally, our assessment of the 
Americas is underway. 

We are excited about a joint venture (JV) agreement to build a 
new  TBR  tire  production  plant  in  Vietnam.  This  JV  is  another 
step  forward  in  Cooper’s  strategy  to  expand  and  diversify  our 
TBR  tire  production  globally,  giving  us  capacity  to  serve  our 
growing original equipment and replacement TBR tire business 
around the world.

We are confident that our strategic plan remains the right path to achieve our goals and drive shareholder value. We have a great team, 
a strong record of delivering solid returns on our investments, and remain confident in the overall strength of the Cooper business 
model. We have work to do, yet are confident that Cooper will, as we have for more than 100 hundred years, succeed in the long term. 
We are excited about our future and thank you for your support.

Bradley E. Hughes
President & Chief Executive Officer

Thomas P. Capo
Chairman

STOCKHOLDER INFORMATION

Executive Offices

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
701 Lima Avenue
Findlay, OH  45840
419-423-1321

For Information
Tire Products  
Investor Relations 
Website    

Annual Meeting

800-854-6288
419-424-4165
www.coopertire.com

The 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Cooper 
Tire & Rubber Company will be held at The Westin 
Detroit  Metropolitan  Airport,  McNamara  Terminal, 
2501 Worldgateway Place, Detroit, Michigan 48242 
on  Friday,  May  3,  2019  at  10:00  a.m.  Eastern 
Daylight Time. All stockholders are cordially invited 
to attend. Proxy material was sent or made available 
to stockholders. 

Transfer Agent & Registrar

Computershare Inc.
PO Box 30170
College Station, TX 77842-3170

888-294-8217 (toll free)
24 hours automated or Mon. - Fri.  
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Central Time)
www.computershare.com/investor
https://www-us.computershare.com/investor/contact

Stockholders  requiring  a  change  of  name,  address 
or ownership of shares, as well as information about 
stockholder  records,  lost  or  stolen  certificates, 
dividend  checks,  dividend  direct  deposit  and 
dividend  reinvestment  should  contact  our  transfer 
agent by mail, by telephone or through its website. 

Filing Certifications

The Company has filed the certification required by 
Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as 
an exhibit to its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending 
December  31,  2018,  filed  with  the  Securities  and 
Exchange  Commission.  On  May  17,  2018,  the 
Company filed with the New York Stock Exchange its 
Annual CEO Certification.

Direct Investment Plan

serves 

Investor  Services 

Computershare 
as 
Administrator  for  a  direct  investment  plan  for  the 
purchase,  sale  and/or  dividend  reinvestment  of 
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company common stock. For 
information, call Computershare Investor Services at 
888-294-8217.

Board of Directors

Executive Officers

Bradley E. Hughes
President & Chief Executive Officer  

John J. Bollman
Senior Vice President &
Chief Human Resources Officer

Christopher J. Eperjesy
Senior Vice President &  
Chief Financial Officer

Stephen Zamansky
Senior Vice President,  
General Counsel & Secretary

Other Corporate Officers

Gerald C. Bialek
Vice President & Treasurer

James P. Keller
Senior Vice President 

Philip F. Kortokrax
Senior Vice President

Jack J. McCracken
Vice President,  
Assistant General Counsel  
& Assistant Secretary

Thomas P. Capo 1, 2
Non-Executive Chairman of the Board,  
Former Chairman of the Board
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.

Steven M. Chapman 1, 3
Group Vice President, China and Russia  
Cummins, Inc.

Susan F. Davis 3
Former Executive Vice President,  
Asia-Pacific Region  
Johnson Controls

Kathryn P. Dickson
Former Senior Vice President  
Mattel, Inc. and President 
American Girl  

John J. Holland 2
President
Greentree Advisors LLC

Bradley E. Hughes
President & Chief Executive Officer  
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company

Tracey I. Joubert 2
Chief Financial Officer
Molson Coors Brewing Company

Gary S. Michel 1, 2
President and Chief Executive Officer
JELD-WEN Holding, Inc.

Brian C. Walker
Former President and  
Chief Executive Officer  
Herman Miller, Inc.

Robert D. Welding 1, 3
Former Non-Executive Chairman  
Public Safety Equipment (Int’l) Limited

1  Member of the Nominating and  

 Governance Committee

2  Member of the Audit Committee
3  Member of the Compensation Committee

COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY
701 Lima Avenue, Findlay, Ohio 45840
www.coopertire.com