Asahi Glass Co. said 13 November 2003 it expects a group net profit of JPY 46 billion for the current irregular 9 month fiscal period ending 31 December 2003.
In the previous full 12 month fiscal per…
Asahi Glass Co. said 13 November 2003 it expects a group net profit of JPY 46 billion for the current irregular 9 month fiscal period ending 31 December 2003. In the previous full 12 month fiscal period ended in March 2003, the glass major suffered a group net loss of JPY 3,918 million. The company“s electronics and display division, which has been boosted by strong demand for liquid crystal displays, is helping raise its overall earnings, Asahi Glass officials said. For the nine months to December 2003, the company also projects a group operating profit of JPY 76 billion and sales of JPY 1.22 trillion. The operating profit estimate is higher than the previous year“s profit of JPY 67,475 million. Operating profit from the electronics and display business is estimated at JPY 36 billion, up JPY 8.5 billion from the previous year. Profit at the chemicals division will be JPY 6 billion, up by JPY 4.6 billion. The firm“s glass business is expected to generate an operating profit of JPY 33 billion. In the first six months of the current fiscal period, the company“s consolidated net profit jumped 93.5% from a year earlier to JPY 29,445 million. Operating profit in the April-September 2003 period was JPY 36,155 million, up 25.8%, and sales totaled JPY 661,720 million, up 4.6 %. While the glass business was hit by poor demand in the U.S. and European markets, the chemicals division posted an operating profit of JPY 3.4 billion against the year-before operating loss of JPY 2.1 billion, contributing to the overall profit growth.