4 June 1998: Japan“s Asahi Glass Co. said that its net profit for the fiscal year 1997, ended 31 March, rose 5.5% to 20.1 billion yen (US$ 152.1 million) from a year ago, according to a company stat…
4 June 1998: Japan“s Asahi Glass Co. said that its net profit for the fiscal year 1997, ended 31 March, rose 5.5% to 20.1 billion yen (US$ 152.1 million) from a year ago, according to a company statement. Asahi“s sales, however, slipped 5.4% to 854.5 billion yen during the same period. Its chemical sales declined 5.6% to 293.1 billion yen for the term, due partly to Asia“s sluggish demand for caustic soda and PVC, the statement said. The company also recorded its consolidated pre-tax profit at 56.8 billion yen for the term, compared to 50.2 billion yen last year, as its group sales edged up 0.7% to 1.3 trillion yen from a year earlier. Asahi estimated its sole pre-tax profit for fiscal 1998, which began 1 April, at 28 billion yen, with net profit of 17 billion yen, the statement added. Meanwhile, Asahi Glass said it would propose changing company rules at a shareholders“ meeting on 26 June to allow it to buy back up to 110 million of its issued shares. The company had 1.18 billion issued shares as of the end of February.