Yokohama Rubber Revises Projected Loss

On September 25 Yokohama Rubber let it be known that its projected consolidated net loss for the first half of the current fiscal year is now smaller than previously anticipated. Projections for the six months from April 1 to September 30, 2009 have been whittled down from the 8.0 billion yen announced on May 12 to 5.0 billion (£33.9 million).

Underlying the improved earnings outlook are Yokohama’s progress in cutting costs and the weaker-than-expected yen. The cost cutting appears likely to prevent a worsening of the operating loss despite lower than expected sales. Undercutting sales has been the worse than anticipated slump in global demand. Yokohama projects an operating loss of 3.0 billion yen (£20.3 million), which is same amount projected in May and which compares with operating income of 5.6 billion yen in the same period of the previous fiscal year. It now projects that net sales will decline 22.1 per cent from the same period of the previous year, to 200.0 billion yen (£1.4 billion). The figure for projected sales is 9.1 per cent lower than the projection announced in May.

Yokohama will release its results for the first half of the present fiscal year, announce sales and earnings projections for the full fiscal year, on October 30.