Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobe) has issued its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30 of the fiscal year 2016-17.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net loss of JPY 2.06 billion ($20.15 million), compared to a net profit of JPY 11.88 billion in the first quarter of the previous financial year. The company's consolidated net sales revenues in the given quarter amounted to JPY 404.46 billion ($3.94 billion), down 12 percent year on year.
Kobe Steel produced 1.94 million mt of crude steel in the June quarter, up 5.4 percent year on year. Kobe's steel product sales volume in the given period decreased by 2.7 percent to 1.44 million mt, compared to the first quarter of the financial year 2015-16.
Meanwhile, Kobe Steel has revised its consolidated forecast for the financial year 2016-17 from the previous forecast announced on April 28, primarily due to the concerns in the world economy over the prolonged slowdown in the economic growth of China and Southeast Asia and the increasing uncertainty of the business environment in Japan and overseas. The company now forecasts net sales of about JPY 1.73 trillion ($16.87 billion) and net income of about JPY 10 billion ($97.5 million) in the fiscal year 2016-17. The previous guidance for the full financial year was for net sales of about JPY 1.75 trillion and net income of about JPY 20 billion.