Nokian Tyres Anticipates Stable Demand in 2026, Sales Expected to Rise

Nokian Tyres Demand and Sales Outlook

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Finnish tyre maker Nokian said it saw little change in demand for this year after it reported a smaller than expected rise in fourth-quarter core earnings on Tuesday, as the global auto industry grapples with a volatile trading environment.

Fourth Quarter Earnings Report

The company, however, expects its sales to grow from last year. It has been raising selling prices to offset a rise in raw material costs.

Market Challenges and Future Targets

U.S. tariffs on car imports, price wars in China and stalled demand for electric vehicles have battered the automotive industry, leading some carmakers to scale back investments.

Dividend Proposal

Nokian reported a comparable operating profit of 51.1 million euros ($60.8 million) for the fourth quarter of 2025, up 42.3% from a year ago but below analysts' average estimate of 55.7 million euros in a company-provided poll.

Its sales rose marginally to 416.4 million euros, while analysts had expected 433.3 million euros on average. It notably flagged a soft market environment for the truck-oriented Heavy Tyres unit, where revenue fell by 2.9%.

In a separate statement, Nokian said it was targeting annual net sales of 1.8 billion to 2.0 billion euros by 2029, up from last year's 1.37 billion euros.

It proposed an annual dividend of 0.25 euro per share, unchanged from the payout from 2024 earnings.

The company's shares dipped 5% after the results publication, but quickly flattened to trade less than 1% lower at 1140 GMT.

($1 = 0.8402 euro)

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)