Bridgestone Corp., Japan's biggest maker of automobile tires, said Friday that its group net profit in the business year through December 2002 surged 161 percent to 45.38 billion yen.
The company said the increase was due to strong overseas sales and the fact that the previous year's figures were depleted by recall-related losses in the United States.
The consolidated operating profit for the 2002 business year jumped 55.8 percent to 183.86 billion yen, while group sales rose 5.3 percent to 2.25 trillion yen.