Projected Yokohama Net Losses Smaller Than Anticipated

It’s not all bad news out there – Yokohama Rubber has announced that its losses in the fiscal year to March 31, 2009, will be smaller than the projections announced on March 24, 2009. Management now projects consolidated operating income of 13.0 billion yen (£92 million), down 60.7 per cent from the previous fiscal year; and a consolidated net loss of 5.5 billion yen (£38.9), down from a consolidated net profit of 21.1 billion yen in the previous fiscal year; on consolidated net sales of 517.0 billion (£3.7 billion), down 6.2 per cent from the previous year. The revised projection for operating income 13.0 per cent higher, the revised projection for net loss 31.3 per cent less, and the revised projection for net sales 0.6 per cent lower than the projections announced on March 24.

Yokohama attributes the upward revision in its earnings projections to better-than-expected progress in reducing selling expenses and to smaller-than-expected losses on foreign currency denominated assets. The smaller losses on foreign currency denominated assets are attributable to the weaker-than-expected yen at fiscal year end. In preparing the earlier fiscal projections, management had assumed fiscal year-end exchange rates of 100 yen to the US dollar, compared with 114 yen to the U.S. dollar at the previous fiscal year-end, and 143 yen to the euro, compared with 162 yen to the euro at the previous fiscal year-end. The actual exchange rates at fiscal year-end were 101 yen to the US dollar and 144 yen to the euro.