Dowa Mining Posts Record Operating Profit for 2 Straight Years

Dowa Mining announced on Thursday the firm posted 36.897 billion yen of consolidated operating profit in fiscal 2005 ended March 2006, increasing by 33.5% from fiscal 2004. The firm marked record consolidated operating profit for 2 straight years thanks to surging metal prices. The consolidated net sales also hit the record which increased by 24.5% to 316.388 billion yen.Dowa Mining owed the higher sales and profits to sales expansion of copper, gold and silver ingot thanks to operation restart of Kosaka smelter, output expansion of indium and price increase of base metals. The firm also posted higher sales and profits in fiscal 2005 from fiscal 2004 for other business segments such as heat treatment, electronic materials & metal processing and environment management & recycling. The firm estimates less sales and profits for non-ferrous metals segment in fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 with lower estimates of metal prices.