Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobe) has issued its financial results for the first nine months ended December 31 of the fiscal year 2017-18.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net profit of JPY 55.82 billion ($508.3 million), compared to a net loss of JPY 36.47 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. The company's consolidated net sales revenues for the first nine months of the current fiscal year amounted to JPY 1.379 trillion ($12.55 billion), up 13.3 percent year on year.
Kobe Steel produced 5.74 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, up 8.9 percent year on year. Kobe's steel product sales volume in the given period increased by 3.8 percent to 4.57 million mt, compared to the first nine months of the financial year 2016-17.
Kobe Steel stated that it has revised its consolidated earnings forecast for the financial year 2017-18, ending March 31, 2018, from the previous forecast announced on October 30, 2017, anticipating an upward revision of its earnings forecast for the full financial year. Accordingly, the company now expects net sales of JPY 1.89 trillion ($17.22 billion) for the full financial year, rising from the previous forecast of JPY 1.88 trillion. The steelmaker also expects a net profit of JPY 45 billion ($409.98 million) for the financial year 2017-18.