Nippon Steel Sets Annual Recurring Profit Forecast Unchanged at 250B Yen

Nippon Steel Corporation announced on Wednesday the firm posted consolidated recurring profit at 134.8 billion yen for the first half of fiscal 2010 (April-September 2010), which improved from recurring loss of 86.9 billion yen in the same period of fiscal 2009 and exceeded estimated 125 billion yen. Consolidated net profit was 71 billion yen for the six months, improving from net loss of 71.8 billion yen in April-September 2009. For a full year of fiscal 2010 ending in March 2011, the firm forecasts net sales at 4.15 trillion yen with recurring profit at 250 billion yen and net profit at 130 billion yen, though the firm posted net sales at 3.4877 trillion yen in fiscal 2009 with recurring profit at 11.8 billion yen and net loss at 11.5 billion yen.

The steel business unit posted consolidated recurring profit at 72.9 billion yen for July-September 2010, recovered from recurring loss of 30.2 billion yen in the same period of fiscal 2009. The business unit showed quarter-to-quarter profit improvement for 5 straight quarters. The business unit gained recurring profit at 117.6 billion yen for the first half year of fiscal 2010, improved from recurring loss of 105.2 billion yen in the same period of fiscal 2009.

Nippon Steel’s non-consolidated crude steel production is estimated at around 8 million tonnes for October-December. Mr. Shinichi Taniguchi, vice president, explained the actual production was 8 million tonnes in April-June due to operative trouble in Oita and 8.17 million tonnes in July-September due to steel market downturn at overseas. In October-December, steel demand is expected to maintain weak. In Japan, the demand is decreasing after the government’s eco-car stimulus policy. In China, steel market price is hitting bottom but unlikely to rebound in a short term.