JFE Posts First Net Loss in F2011

JFE Holdings announced on Friday the firm posted 52.9 billion yen of consolidated recurring profit in fiscal 2011 ended March 2012, which was 68% lower than the profit in fiscal 2010 due to lower profit for the steel unit. The firm posted 36.6 billion yen of net loss compared with 58.6 billion yen of profit in fiscal 2010. The firm posted first net loss due to 124.8 billion yen of onetime loss including valuation loss and earthquake related loss. The firm failed to disclose the annual target for fiscal 2012 citing uncertain raw materials cost and steel selling price.

The steel unit posted 25.7 billion yen of recurring profit for fiscal 2011 compared with 134.2 billion yen of profit in fiscal 2010. The profit increased to record 14.3 billion yen for engineering unit from 12.2 billion yen while the profit decreased from 17.1 billion yen to 12.2 billion yen for shipbuilding unit.

JFE Steel’s raw steel output decreased to 26.9 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 from 28.8 million tonnes in fiscal 2010. The steel shipment decreased from 26.25 million tonnes to 24.67 million tonnes. The averaged steel selling price increased from 77,900 yen per tonne to 82,000 yen. The export rate decreased from 46.5% to 45%. The firm posted 17 billion yen of recurring loss in fiscal 2011 compared with 74.7 billion yen of profit in fiscal 2010.

The steel unit’s profit suffered from 347 billion yen of higher raw materials cost while the firm gained 170 billion yen from higher selling price and 70 billion yen of cost reduction. The steel unit posted 16.8 billion yen of recurring loss in January-March compared with 16.5 billion yen of profit in January-March 2011 and 4.8 billion yen of profit in October-December 2011.

The firm expects better steel market condition. The firm tries to improve the margin and sales volume while the firm realizes 100 billion yen of cost reduction in fiscal 2012. The firm plans 7 million tonnes of raw steel output for JFE Steel in April-June compared with 6.6 million tonnes in January-March.