Japan Battery Makers Impacted by Higher Lead Cost in 1H

GS Yuasa Corporation and Furukawa Battery, Japanese major battery makers, posted operating losses in the first half of fiscal 2007 ended September. Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery, another major battery maker in Japan, could gain operating profit in 1H even though which rather declined compared with the corresponding period of F2006. The 3 battery makers failed to pass lead costs on their selling prices in 1H when lead metal price jumped up by more than 80%.GS Yuasa posted operating loss of 328 million yen in 1H07 for its battery business, which decreased by 1.909 billion yen from 1H06. The sales of the battery business increased by 19.4% to 122 billion yen in 1H07 from a year earlier. Furukawa Battery posted operating loss of 1.197 billion yen for its lead battery business in 1H07, which became worse by 545 million yen compared with 1H06. The sales increased by 25.4% to 3.632 billion yen in 1H07 from a year earlier thanks to the favorable demand for automobiles and industrial usages. However, the profitability became worse due to higher material costs for lead and resin.Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery posted net sales of 22.245 billion yen for its battery business unit in 1H07, up by 17% from 1H06. Only the firm gained operating profit among the 3 battery makers in 1H07 even though which decreased by 43% to 397 million yen from a year earlier.