Nokian Renkaat - Company Announcement

Nokian Tyres: Net sales and Operating profit to decline in 2014 compared to 2013

Nokia, Finland, 2014-04-03 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nokian Tyres plc
Stock Exchange Release 3 April 2014, 9.00 a.m. 

Nokian Tyres: Net sales and Operating profit to decline in 2014 compared to 2013

Due to a weaker forecast for the economy in Russia and CIS, Nokian Tyres
downgrades its guidance for 2014. The clearly devalued Rouble has hurt Russian
economy and the purchasing power of Russian consumers, thus weakening tyre
demand and Nokian Tyres' sales in Russia. Nokian Tyres estimates growth in 2014
in all its western markets: Nordic countries, Central Europe and North America. 

Nokian Tyres improved further its market position on all end-user markets in
2013, which gives a good platform for growth. Raw materials are estimated to
provide a tailwind of approximately EUR 30 million in 2014, supporting
profitability. Nokian Tyres continues to have competitive advantages from
having manufacturing operations inside Russia. 55% of the Russian tyre
production is exported, and the margin between production costs in Roubles and
tyre export sales in Euros has increased. However, this is not enough to fully
compensate for the weaker market conditions in Russia. 

Nokian Tyres will publish its Interim report for January-March on 7th May 2014.

Financial guidance (updated)

In 2014, Net sales and Operating profit are to decline compared to 2013.

Previous guidance from 7 February 2014

In 2014, the company is positioned to show growth in Net sales and Operating
profit. 



Nokian Tyres plc

Antti-Jussi Tähtinen, Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Further information:
Mr. Kim Gran, President and CEO, tel: +358 10 401 7336
Mrs. Anne Leskelä, CFO, tel: +358 10 401 7481

Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, media, www.nokiantyres.com