Nippon Steel Widens Full-Year Net Loss Forecast

Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)–Nippon Steel Corp. said Wednesday that it expects to incur a consolidated net loss of 60 billion yen for the fiscal year through next March, widening from the previous forecast of 40 billion yen. The downward revision came after Nippon Steel lowered its estimate for a profit from the acquisition of United States Steel Corp. in June from 80 billion yen to zero, due to the deterioration of U.S. Steel’s earnings. Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori said that the slump in U.S. Steel’s business performance was caused by a drop in demand in the North American market due to tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as weak market conditions. Mori noted that U.S. Steel’s profit structure is fragile, adding that carrying out investments will be an effective profit measure. On Tuesday, U.S. Steel announced a medium- to long-term plan to invest a total of 14 billion dollars in equipment. For April-September, Nippon Steel posted a net loss of 113.3 billion yen, against a net profit of 243.3 billion yen a year before. The six-month loss was mainly due to a massive loss from the dissolution of a U.S. joint venture with a major European company, which aimed to address competition law concerns regarding the acquisition of U.S. Steel. On Wednesday, Nippon Steel also announced the sale of its stake in Brazilian steel giant Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais S.A., in order to focus its management resources on U.S., Indian and Thai operations. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]