Sumitomo Metals Forecasts 61.5% Y/Y Profit Increase in F2011

Sumitomo Metal Industries announced on Thursday the firm’s full-year consolidated recurring profit is now estimated to increases by 61.5% to 55 billion yen in fiscal 2011 ending in March 2012 compared with the previous fiscal year while the latest profit forecast is 45% lower than the previous estimation. The firm forecasted full-year net loss at 55 billion yen though the previous estimation was zero.

Mr. Shuichiro Kozuka, vice president, explained net loss is concerned with the business restructuring plan announced by SUMCO, the equity method affiliate to manufacture silicon wafers, on Thursday.

For nine months of April-December, Sumitomo Metals posted consolidated recurring profit at 56.5 billion yen. The profit jumped by 2.1 times year-to-year since there was operative trouble in some blast furnaces for April-December 2010 while cost reduction effects contributed to the profitability. The nine-month net loss was 37.6 billion yen against net profit of 34.9 billion yen in the same period of fiscal 2010. The yearend dividend is now estimated at 1 yen per share. The annual dividend would total 2 yen per share, lower by 1.5 yen than in the previous fiscal year.

Three-month crude steel output is planned at 3.38 million tonnes for January-March. The full-year production is estimated to total 12.74 million tonnes, decreasing by 160,000 tonnes from the previous estimation.

Export sales rate in value would be around 40% for January-March. The sales rate was 46% for April-June, 40% for July-September and 38% for October-December.