4/27/17 – 8:03 A.M.

Cooper Tire & Rubber’s operating profit was down nearly 50 percent in the first quarter of 2016. Numbers reported by the company this morning show Cooper posted $49 million in operating profit through the end of March. That’s down from $91 million during the same time in 2016. Net sales for the company dropped $7 million compared to a year ago.

At the same time, the company says unit volume increased by nearly 3 percent during the first three months of the year.

In a statement, CEO Brad Hughes said, “the first quarter was impacted by a dramatic increase in raw material costs.” He added, ” U.S. unit sales volume was down as a result of the timing of price increases and aggressive promotional activity by competitors.”

Hughes says the company believes the industry environment will stabilize in the second half of the year. He adds that would help the company get to an 8 to 10 percent profit margin by the time 2017 ends.

The Americas tire segment posted $63 million in operating profit in the first quarter. That’s down from $106 million a year ago.

International tire operations profits are up over 2016 numbers. The segment saw $2 million in operating profit compared to a $2 million loss in 2016.