Three news about Timken

a) W. J. Timken, Jr. Elected Vice Chairman of The Timken Company CANTON, Ohio, April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The board of directors of The Timken Company today elected Ward J. ("Tim") Timken, Jr. to the position of vice chairman - board of directors. Mr. Timken currently has corporate responsibilities as executive vice president. As vice chairman, these responsibilities will be expanded to encompass additional interface with the board of directors. Mr. Timken will continue his operational role as president of the Steel Group. "Tim has demonstrated exceptional leadership in key management roles throughout the company, including major corporate initiatives such as directing the integration of the former Torrington Company. The performance of the Steel Group under his leadership has been outstanding," said W. R. Timken, Jr. - chairman of the board of directors. "Tim represents the fifth generation of Timken family members that have played active roles in company management since our founding in 1899. I am proud that Tim continues that heritage, but also that his leadership firmly exemplifies the ethics and integrity of The Timken Company. He will be a key asset to the company and its shareholders as we continue to grow and build an even stronger company around the world." Mr. Timken was elected to the board of directors in 2002 and named corporate vice president - office of the chairman in 2000. He started with the company in 1992 as executive assistant in the company's Steel Group. His other positions in the Steel Group include senior analyst, principal strategic management analyst and market manager - distribution. In the bearing business, he has served as marketing manager - original equipment distribution - Europe, Africa and West Asia and as vice president - Latin America. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Georgetown University and a master's in marketing from the University of Virginia. The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) ( www.timken.com ) keeps the world turning, with innovative ways to make customers' products run smoother, faster and more efficiently. Timken's highly engineered bearings, alloy steels and related products and services turn up everywhere - on land, on the seas and in space. With operations in 27 countries, sales of $4.5 billion in 2004 and 26,000 employees, Timken is Where You Turn(TM) for better performance. b) Timken Launches New Tag Line: Where You Turn CANTON, Ohio, April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Timken Company announced today at its annual meeting of shareholders a new corporate tag line: Where You Turn. "Customers around the world rely on our products wherever their parts move and turn, on land, on sea and in space," said James W. Griffith, president and CEO. "But the line Where You Turn also represents our commitment to be the company that customers turn to for friction management and power transmission expertise. "It's more than what we make. It's working with customers as a trusted partner to improve their performance." In recent years, Timken grew beyond its former tag line of Worldwide Leader in Bearings and Steel. When the company began a transformation in 1999 to position itself for growth and enhanced customer value, it began expanding its core product line of bearings and steel to offer an expanded line of components and services such as lubrication, sealing and automotive service parts. In 2003, the company grew by more than 50 percent when it expanded its product breadth with the acquisition of the Torrington and Fafnir lines. With a fuller product offering to better serve customers and improved competitiveness, Timken achieved record growth in the last year. "We believe we have the best people, the strongest ethics, the most innovative technology and the highest quality, all focused on delivering to customers what they need to be successful. Our new tag line reflects our commitment to those values," said Griffith. "And when we help our customers to perform better, we perform better, generating higher returns for our shareholders." The new tag line will be used in all the company's communications and promotional materials around the world. Product packaging will not change. c) Timken Company Earnings Per Share Double on Record First Quarter Sales and Net Income CANTON, Ohio, April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Timken Company today reported record sales of $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2005, up 19 percent from a year ago, driven by strong industrial demand. Timken had record net income of $58.2 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, compared to $28.5 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, in the first quarter a year ago. Excluding special items, earnings per diluted share were $0.64, compared to $0.31 last year. Special items in the first quarter of 2005 totaled $1.1 million of pretax expense, compared to $0.7 million of pretax income a year ago. The company's tax rate for the quarter was 36 percent, compared to 38 percent in the same period a year ago, reflecting the benefit of tax planning strategies. The company expects the tax rate going forward to remain at 36 percent. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991012/TKRLOGO ) "We continued to see broad strength in industrial markets, leading the Industrial and Steel Groups to deliver solid earnings this quarter. The performance in these areas more than offset the results of the Automotive Group, which reflected the relative weakness of the North American automotive industry," said James W. Griffith, president and CEO. "Over the past few years, we have taken actions to improve competitiveness in preparation for the upturn in global markets, and we are now benefiting from these actions. Overall, we are pleased with our first-quarter results and are continuing to focus on improving margins and performance." Total debt at March 31, 2005 was $837.5 million, 39.1 percent of capital. Debt was higher than the 2004 year-end level of $779.3 million due to higher working capital requirements, resulting from increased sales volume and seasonality. During the quarter, Standard & Poors Ratings Services and Moody's Investors Service improved their outlook on Timken debt from negative to stable and also reaffirmed their ratings of BBB- and Ba1, respectively. The company expects its leverage to be lower at the end of this year, compared to last year. Industrial Group Results For the first quarter, the Industrial Group achieved record sales of $468.8 million, up 14 percent from $410.6 million last year. End market demand continued to be robust with the strongest growth in rail, mining, construction, agriculture and heavy industrial applications. The group is continuing to focus on customer service and expanding market opportunities. During the first quarter, for example, Timken expanded its industrial product line through a licensing and supply agreement with Federal-Mogul Corporation to sell National(R) industrial seal products in the U.S. and Canada under the Timken brand. The Industrial Group's continued strong performance was reflected in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $47.0 million, up 31 percent from $35.8 million last year. Higher volume, price increases and improved productivity drove the EBIT increase, which was partially offset by increased costs for growth initiatives. Automotive Group Results Automotive Group sales were $420.3 million, up 1 percent from $415.6 million in the first quarter of last year. Continued strong demand in the heavy truck market was nearly offset by a production decline in North American light vehicles. Sales also benefited from new platforms launched in 2004, such as the Nissan Titan and Pathfinder Armada and Ford F-150. The Automotive Group recorded an EBIT loss of $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2005, compared to EBIT of $18.3 million last year. The loss was due primarily to higher raw material costs, which could not be completely offset due to contractual commitments with certain customers. However, the company is making progress in recovery of raw material cost increases. The Automotive Group's results were also negatively impacted by lower volume in passenger car applications. Steel Group Results The Steel Group benefited from strong performance in both its alloy steel and specialty steel businesses. The group posted record sales of $467.4 million, up 51 percent from $309.3 million in the first quarter of last year. The increase was due to three factors: higher volume, with the strongest demand from aerospace, energy and general industrial customers; surcharges; and price increases. EBIT was a record $63.7 million, compared to $2.7 million last year. The group's improved profitability reflects increased volume, price increases and its success in recovering higher raw material costs through surcharges. In addition, high operating levels and labor productivity contributed to improved profitability. Outlook The company expects continued strong results in 2005 with estimated earnings per diluted share, excluding special items, of $0.55 to $0.60 for the second quarter and $2.05 to $2.20 for the full year. Continued strength of global industrial markets is expected to contribute to strong Industrial and Steel Group performance. North American light vehicle production is expected to be down slightly, while medium and heavy truck production is expected to remain strong. The Automotive Group should see improved profitability over last year as a result of productivity gains, price increases and surcharges.