Business Watch -- WSJ

MICHELIN

Tire Maker Say Sales On Track to Grow

French tire maker Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin SA expects to increase its tire sales by 20% by 2020 from last year's level, Chief Executive Jean-Dominique Senard said Monday.

The company would reach "above-market growth" from innovations that would allow it to offer tires that more closely meet the needs of customers, Mr. Senard said.

A spokeswoman for the company declined to say how many tires Michelin sold in 2015.

The company's revenue from its "services and solutions" unit would double by 2020 to EUR2 billion ($2.27 billion) from EUR1 billion in 2015, Mr. Senard said.

Michelin said three months ago its sales of tires in 2015 rose 3.2% on stronger demand from Western Europe, China and North America, while a weak economic environment in Eastern Europe and South America hurt sales. The company had previously said it expected sales in 2016 would rise at the pace of the market.

--Inti Landauro and Blandine Henault

LUKOIL

Profit Plunges on Lower Oil Prices

Russia's No. 2 oil producer OAO Lukoil said first-quarter net profit more than halved compared with the same period in 2015 because of lower oil prices.

Net profit dropped 58.8% to 42.8 billion rubles ($651 million) as Revenue fell 18.2% to 1.18 trillion rubles. Free cash flow declined 42.1% to 36.4 billion rubles. Lukoil's daily hydrocarbon production was down 0.6% at 2.35 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company ramped up production at its West Qurna-2 project in Iraq, but output slid in its main Soviet-era fields in Western Siberia.

Lukoil stock rose 1% in Moscow after the results were published Monday morning, slightly behind the rest of the market

--James Marson

Aker Solutions

Norwegian Firm Gets Egypt Gas-Field Pact

Aker Solutions ASA of Norway won a one billion kroner ($122.3 million) contract with Petrobel for delivery of equipment to the Zohr gas field offshore Egypt, a boost for the Norwegianoil-service company at a time of waning activity and job cuts. The company said it would deliver 180 kilometers of umbilicals -- a type of tube used to carry data, power and fluids between subsea production equipment and platforms -- that would connect the Zohr field to an offshore control platform.

The company ramped up production at its West Qurna-2 project in Iraq, but output slid in its main Soviet-era fields in Western Siberia.

Lukoil stock rose 1% in Moscow after the results were published Monday morning, slightly behind the rest of the market

--Kjetil Malkenes Hovland

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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