Goodyear swings to profit in 1Q

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co . swung to a profit in the first quarter by focusing on higher-priced tires and international markets. The results from the biggest U.S.-based tiremaker beat Wall Street expectations and its shares rose nearly 3 percent in premarket trading.

Akron-based Goodyear , the world's third largest tiremaker, said Friday it earned $147 million, or 60 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. It lost $174 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period in 2007.

Sales rose to $4.94 billion in the quarter from $4.5 billion a year ago.

Excluding various one-time items in the latest quarter, Goodyear earned 67 cents per share from continuing operations.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected Goodyear to post earnings of 47 cents per share. Such estimates usually exclude special items.