22 January 1998: While Japan-based Asahi Glass and Central Glass said they expect to see an increase in full-year 1998 profits, Nippon Sheet Glass lags behind.
Asahi Glass has cut costs and Central G…
22 January 1998: While Japan-based Asahi Glass and Central Glass said they expect to see an increase in full-year 1998 profits, Nippon Sheet Glass lags behind. Asahi Glass has cut costs and Central Glass has increased revenue from highly-profitable fine chemicals. However, Nippon Sheet Glass says that as far as their company is concerned, a change in accounting methods has yielded a 400 million yen drop in profits on top of poor conditions for sheet glass, and that sales have been relatively low. Nonetheless, all three companies report that profits have been difficult to gain in the second half as glass prices and volume sold have both fallen. Asahi Glass predicts operating profits will rise 29% to just under 20 billion yen. Forecasts up to now have called for a profit of 21 billion yen. Still, the company credits cost savings, especially in labour and shipping, with a 3.3 billion yen effect on profits. Central Glass says that current profits will gain 11% to 4.8 billion yen, short of the five billion earlier predicted.