Pirelli: ‘Strong’ UK price rises helps sales near £500m at tyre giant

The UK arm of Pirelli has said “strong” price rises helped its sales and pre-tax profit accelerate during its latest financial year.

The company has reported a turnover of £471.3m for 2023, up from the £419.3m it achieved in 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its pre-tax profit improved from £11.5m to £14.3m over the same period.

Pirelli’s UK division is headquartered in Burton-upon-Trent while it also has a manufacturing base in Carlisle.

A statement signed off by the board said: “The result for the year improved notwithstanding the continuing inflationary pressures across all areas of the cost base but most notably impacting raw materials, energy/fuel costs and labour costs.

“The result for the year was managed through the continued implementation of strict cost controls, facilitated through the strong relationships with our partners, customers and supply chain.

“Improvements within the industrial processes and efficiencies during the year also contributed positively.

“The commercial performance…lessened the impact on the result of the year due to the premium product mix on the volumes achieved within the market.”

How does Pirelli compare to UK rivals?

Pirelli’s results come after the UK arm of tyre giants Goodyear and Dunlop saw its sales soar to almost £3bn.

Goodyear Tyres UK, which is headquartered near Solihull, achieved a turnover of £2.9bn in 2023, up from £2.7bn the previous year.

Its pre-tax profit also increased, rising 10 per cent to £11m in the same period.

City AM also reported earlier this year that the UK arm of tyre giant Michelin also almost doubled its pre-tax profit as it fought off the rising cost of production by upping its prices.

Michelin’s UK business saw its pre-tax profit almost double to £15.7m in 2023, from £7.9m in the previous 12 months.

The boost came as the company’s UK turnover grew to £530m, up from £511m in the year before.

In April, the UK arm of global tyre giant Hankook warned drivers are turning to lower quality products as they battle the cost of living crisis.

However, the switch failed to dent the company’s performance in 2023 with sales rising from £147.5m to £168.6m.

But the results did show that Hankook slipped from making a pre-tax profit of £1.9m to a loss of £966,547.