Asahi Glass Co. cut its group net forecast on 25 March 2003 for the fiscal year ending 31 March to a JPY 6 billion loss from a profit of JPY 28 billion, blaming unrealized losses on holdings in shares…
Asahi Glass Co. cut its group net forecast on 25 March 2003 for the fiscal year ending 31 March to a JPY 6 billion loss from a profit of JPY 28 billion, blaming unrealized losses on holdings in shares of banks and other listed companies. Asahi Glass said it will take a special loss of JPY 40 billion on a group basis. Like many other companies, it has been hit by the ongoing decline of Japanese stock markets. Asahi Glass left unchanged its outlook issued earlier in March 2003 for group sales of JPY 1.3 trillion and an operating profit of JPY 65 billion. On a parent basis, Asahi Glass now expects to post a huge JPY 32 billion net loss for the current fiscal year, compared with a profit of JPY 9 billion in its prior estimate. Japanese stocks have been dragged down recently by global political uncertainty and the disappointing economic outlook, with the benchmark Nikkei 22 Stock Average falling to a 20-year closing low of 7862.43 11 March 2003.