reported a 34.3% drop in sales for the year ending March 31, tallying ¥24.37 billion ($245.4 million) in revenue and registering an operating loss of ¥2.14 billion ($21.5 million). For the prior year, Nissei’s sales grew 1.7% to ¥37.10 billion ($373.6 million) for a profit of ¥179 million ($1.8 million). Competitor Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd.’s stock fell 9% after it reported that full-year net income plunged 68% to ¥13.6 billion ($137 million), according to Bloomberg.
Going forward, Nissei is forecasting sales of ¥16.40 billion ($165 million) through March 31, 2010, with sales of ¥7.3 billion ($73.5 million) to Sept. 30, 2009. Sumitomo believes net income will fall 74% to ¥3.5 billion ($35.2 million) for the fiscal year, with an 18% drop in sales. The annualized 16.1% drop in Japan’s GDP for the first three months of 2009 followed a contraction of 12.1% for the fourth quarter of 2008. There may be a leveling-off ahead, however, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, which reported that industrial production in March increased 1.6% from the previous month—its first increase in six months. Compared to the year prior, production was off 34.2%. The gains that were made were led by electronic parts and devices, general machinery, and electrical machinery. China’s injection molding machinery industry has been impacted as well, with Haitian International Holdings Ltd. reporting “modest” drops in revenue and profits after it generated $540 million in sales in 2008, for a profit of $144 million. —[email protected]
