Ahresty Plans 110B Yen Sales and 4% Operating Profit Rate in F2012

Japanese major die casting maker, Ahresty, targets 110 billion yen of full-year consolidated net sales for fiscal 2012 ending in March 2013. Die casting business unit plans to gain around 40% of the segment sales at offshore market. Ahresty tries to increase die casting sales in emerging countries including China, Mexico and India when automobile output has decreased in Japan while automobile makers aggressively increase the output at offshore plants, especially in emerging countries.

Ahresty held a press conference on its financial results in April-September 2011 in Tokyo on November 22. President Arata Takahashi explained the firm targets 4% of operating profit to sales, 8% of return on equity and 3% of return on asset in fiscal 2012.

For a full year of fiscal 2011, the firm estimates consolidated sales would increase by 6.7% to 105.7 billion yen from fiscal 2010 while operating profit decrease by 61.5% to 1.45 billion yen, recurring profit decrease by 63.5% to 1.3 billion yen and net profit decrease by 39.2% to 900 million yen. Offshore sales rate of die casting products would rise by 2 percentage points to 32%.

Guangzhou Ahresty Casting (GAC), production subsidiary in China, acquired a right to use an adjacent land of 20,000 square meters in September. GAC utilizes the additional site to improve productivity and raise output capacity along demand growth for die casting products around Guangzhou.

The second production subsidiary in China, Hefei Ahresty Casting started operation in July. Mr. Takahashi explained the orders have steadily increased and the second-phase expansion works started in October.

In Japan, Tochigi plant has currently finished sixth-phase expansion and introduced additional die casting facilities to meet new orders for magnesium die casting products. Toyohashi plant has started renovation works or installment of a melting furnace to prepare for integration with Hamamatsu plant scheduled in March 2013.

In Thailand, the die casting die plant, Thai Ahresty Die has suspended operation due to flood. Ahresty seeks the measures to cover dies under manufacturing or die order backlogs at Thai Ahresty Die.