Kobe Steel to book net loss of 32 bil. yen for FY 2008

Posted on: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:02:00 EDT


Symbols: KBSTY
TOKYO, Apr 07, 2009 (Kyodo News International - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
KBSTY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Kobe Steel Ltd. said Tuesday it expects to book a group net loss of 32 billion yen in fiscal 2008 due to falling sales in the iron and steel, aluminum and copper, and construction machinery segments.

The anticipated result in the year ended last Tuesday, a reversal from Kobe Steel's forecast in February of 13 billon yen in profit, is also blamed on inventory valuation losses caused by falls in iron and copper prices as well as appraisal losses on shareholdings, the company said.

Kobe Steel, which booked a net profit of 88.92 billion yen in fiscal 2007, last fell into the red in fiscal 2001.

Japanese steelmakers have witnessed their earnings deteriorate rapidly since the second half of last year as the global recession has sharply weakened demand for steel products from customers such as construction companies and automakers. Kobe Steel is the first blast-furnace steelmaker that has announced that it is anticipating a loss for the just-ended business year.

In the revised group earnings projection for fiscal 2008, Kobe Steel also expects 2.17 trillion yen in sales, down from its earlier forecast of 2.2 trillion yen and compared with the previous year's 2.13 trillion yen.

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