Japanese tyremaker Bridgestone to exit Russia, seeks local buyer

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Bridgestone Corp, one of the world's top tyremakers, said on Monday it had started to look for a local buyer for its Russian operations, citing uncertainty over the outlook and ongoing supply issues.

Bridgestone had decided in March to suspend all manufacturing activities and freeze new investments in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The Tokyo-based company has more than 1,000 workers in Russia, mainly at its tyre factory in Ulyanovsk and sales office in Moscow. Russia represents less than 2% of its revenues, it said in a statement.

The process of finding a buyer and closing a deal would likely take several months, Bridgestone said. It expects the exit to add to the 16.8 billion yen ($113.5 million) impairment and other losses it booked in the second quarter.

Bridgestone left its fiscal 2022 financial forecasts announced in August intact and said it would announce any changes to those projections swiftly.

($1 = 148.0000 yen)

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Mark Potter)