May 6--ROMULUS, Mich. -- Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. last year moved its annual shareholders' meeting from the firm's headquarters in Findlay 100 miles north to a hotel at Detroit-Wayne County Metropolitan Airport.

It may have been a short trip for company executives again yesterday, but given the unprecedented market conditions facing the replacement tire manufacturer, anything that makes people drive more can only help.

Last year was "a year of unprecedented volatility," Roy Armes, Cooper Tire's chairman and chief executive officer, told about 30 shareholders and company executives gathered for the shareholder meeting. "That turmoil had a direct impact on our financial results."

The CEO ticked off a series of trials that he said had squeezed the Findlay firm's profitability and long-term objectives: rubber shortages, record-high oil prices, a collapse of the financial sector, and hurricanes.

The tire-making company lost $219 million in 2008, compared to a profit of $119 million in 2007. With first quarter earnings due out today, Mr. Armes and other officials would not discuss this year's financial performance.

Still, the chief executive said that the decision to close its plant in Albany, Ga., would help Cooper Tire "to align capacity with market demand." He also praised Ohio economic development officials and the United Steelworkers union for the financial assistance and contract concessions that made the company's Findlay plant more competitive as officials considered in December which of its four U.S. plants to close this year.

"We were in direct contact with the state, and we got a lot of support from the union," as the company considered 10 different criteria to determine which plant to close, Mr. Armes explained. "By the time we were done, our decision was pretty clear."

The company also announced yesterday that it would pay a quarterly dividend of 10.5 cents a share, payable June 30 to holders of record on June 2.

Contact Larry P. Vellequette at: lvellequette@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.

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