Bridgestone Corp. said Tuesday it has lowered its projected group net profit for the current business year to 65 billion yen from 100 billion yen due to higher raw materials prices.

The tire maker also blamed losses expected from a move by U.S. subsidiary Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC to close manufacturing operations in Oklahoma.

In the revised group earnings projection for the year to Dec. 31, Bridgestone expects a pretax profit of 128 billion yen, down from 163 billion yen in its forecast in February.