2/19/19 – 8:11 A.M.

Cooper Tire & Rubber saw a decline in operating profit in 2018. The Findlay-based tire maker posted its year-end and fourth quarter results Tuesday morning. The filing shows Cooper had an operating profit of $165 million for 2018. That’s down more than 46 percent compared to 2017.

Net Sales were relatively flat for the year. Cooper says the company tallied $2.8 trillion in net sales last year. That’s a decline of 1.6 percent compared to the previous year.

The results include a $34 million goodwill impairment charge. The charge comes as a result of Cooper announcing a joint venture agreement with Sailun Vietnam to build a new truck and bus radial tire production plant in Vietnam. The facility will reduce production requirements for a joint venture in China, which led to the impairment charge.

In a statement, CEO Brad Hughes said, “As projected, in the fourth quarter we drove unit volume growth in the U.S., which was offset by volume declines in our other regions, reflecting economic and political factors.” Hughes also said raw material prices improved, but were still higher than they were in 2017.