Nippon Steel sees July-September profit slump by 49 percent

According to the Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corporation (Nippon Steel), the company saw a 49 percent fall in third quarter profit as the appreciation of Japanese yen and weak demand in Asia squeezed margins on exports. In addition, Nippon Steel has slashed its full-year profit outlook by 22 percent.
 
As Nippon Steel stated, its July-September recurring profit, which is pre-tax and excludes special items, was JPY 37.2 billion ($487.32 million), falling short of its own estimate of JPY 53 billion ($694.3 million) and down from the year-ago profit of JPY 72.98 billion ($956.04 million).
 
In addition, Nippon Steel has slashed its full-year profit outlook to JPY 180 billion ($2.36 billion) from its July projection of JPY 230 billion ($3.01 billion).
 
The export outlook for Japanese steelmakers is worsening against the background of the appreciation of the Japanese yen and weak prices in Asia, outweighing the impact of the recovery in domestic car production.