On July 28, Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel Corporation (JFE) released its financial results for the first quarter of the current fiscal year (April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010). According to the results, in the period in question the company registered a net loss of JPY 41.559 billion (approx. US$438 million), while its net income in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year was JPY 68.745 billion (approx. US$693 million).
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, net sales of JFE's steel business stood at JPY 476.3 billion (US$5.020 billion), down from JPY 845 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, mainly due to unavoidable cuts in production. Meanwhile, the total sales reached JPY 588.6 billion (US$6.204 billion), down from JPY 938 billion (US$9.886 billion) a year earlier.
In the period in question, the company's operating loss reached JPY 61.2 billion (US$ 645 million), declining from JPY 91.2 billion (US$961 million) of operating income in the corresponding period of the fiscal year ended March 2009.
In the first half of the current fiscal year, JFE forecasts it will record JPY1.280 trillion (US$13.48 billion) in sales, which is 39.1 percent lower that the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, and a net loss of JPY 40 billion (US$421.56 million), down from a net income of JPY 153 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.