TOKYO (AP) -- Tire maker Bridgestone Corp. said Friday it mustered a net profit of 17.6 billion yen ($191 million) in the January-March quarter amid a gradual global recovery.
The result is a turnaround from a net loss of 34.9 billion yen a year earlier. Bridgestone said sales in the fiscal first quarter rose 16.1 percent to 659.1 billion yen.
Bridgestone, which had a net profit of just 1 billion yen last fiscal year, said that markets in Japan and the U.S. were gently recovering amid rising raw materials prices, but that conditions in Europe remained harsh.
The company forecast a net profit of 27 billion yen for the half-year through June. It did not release a full-year forecast.
