Sumitomo posts net loss for April-December 2011

Thursday, 02 February 2012 15:50:04 (GMT+2)

Japanese steelmaker Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd (Sumitomo Metals) has announced its consolidated financial results for the first nine months (April-December) of FY 2011-12.

Accordingly, in the first nine months of the current Japanese financial year, Sumitomo Metals' net sales increased by 2.9 percent year on year to JPY 1.07 trillion ($14.05 billion), while it registered an operating income of JPY 57.7 billion ($757.9 million), up by 45.1 percent year on year. For the period in question, Sumitomo Metals recorded a net loss of JPY 37.6 billion ($493.7 million) due to extraordinary losses such as valuation loss on investment securities.

According to Sumitomo Metals' statement, during the April-December period "domestic steel demand in Japan did not reach the level for the same period of the last fiscal year. Exports decreased year-on-year due to deteriorated overseas markets with weakness seen in the steel sheet market and the effect of the flood in Thailand."

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the crude steel production of Sumitomo Metals amounted to 9.36 million metric tons, down almost 4.2 percent as compared to the same period of FY 2010-11.

Regarding the forecasts for the entire financial year, Sumitomo Metals will seek to improve profitability by proceeding with its after-quake recovery plan in an uncertain business environment caused by the sluggish global economy, the lack of improvement in the European financial crisis, and the slowdown seen in the Chinese economy.

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