Japan 3 Battery Makers Recover Profit in 1H

Japanese major 3 battery makers gained higher revenue and profit for the first half of fiscal 2008 (Apr-Sep) compared with the corresponding period of fiscal 2007, 2 of those which recovered the black figures. Their productive costs lowered thanks to the electrolytic lead price down. Another positive factor was that they hiked the selling price of repairing batteries during fiscal 2007.

GS Yuasa Corporation marked the record recurring profit as 1H at 6.81 billion yen. Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery posted recurring profit at 2.58 billion yen for 1H, increasing by 100% from a year earlier. Furukawa Battery’s half-year revenue and profit widely improved thanks to its product composition with a high selling rate of automotive batteries.

Lead price at London Metal Exchange halved to US$ 1,700-1,800 per tonne in September 2008 from the recent peak at US$ 3,460 in March 2008. The 3 battery makers gained profits mainly from automotive repairing batteries in 1H because they adopt the fixed price system for the product.

They have implemented price hike for automotive repairing battery 3 times in 2007 with each hike range at 20-30%. They gained large profits in 1H when LME lead price plunged down while the product price was fixed.

Their full-year figures are unforeseeable. Battery sales volume is recently decreasing from a year earlier in Japan. Additionally battery users are expected to offer price cut against battery makers in 2H.