Asahi
Posts Bleak First Half 2009 Results, Full-Year Forecast
May 11, 2009
Asahi Glass Co. (AGC) in Japan has released its financial report for
the first quarter of fiscal 2009, or January 1 through March 31, 2009.
The company notes that due to the global economic environment, AGC and
its consolidated subsidiaries were sluggish across all regions. Under
such a business environment, the AGC Group posted net sales of $2.4 billion
USD (236.3 billion yen), down $1.4 USD from the first quarter or 2008;
operating loss of $61.6 million USD, down $616.2 million USD from the
first quarter 2008; ordinary loss of $108.8 million USD, down $494.8 million
USD from the first quarter 2008; and net loss of $143.7 million USD, down
$432.2 million USD from the first quarter 2008. (CLICK
HERE for AGC's full consolidated financial results for the first quarter
of fiscal year 2009.)
Sales in the flat glass business decreased from the corresponding period
of the previous year. In Western Europe, demand continued to weaken as
the economy slowed down, and prices also dropped from a year earlier.
Affected by the slowing economy, fast-growing markets such as Russia also
saw a decrease in demand accompanied by a significant decline in prices.
In North America, to cope with weakened demand, the AGC Group decided
to stop operations of some more flat glass production facilities (CLICK
HERE for more information). In Japan, shipments decreased, affected
by continued weak demand from the construction sector. Shipments of glass
for solar cells remained at slight increase due to a slowdown in the growth
of the solar cell market. Prices of raw materials and fuels declined,
but the effects were limited because of the weak demand.
As a result, net sales from the glass operations for the first quarter
were $1.1 billion USD, down 41.5 percent compared to the first quarter
of 2008, and operating loss were $162.2 million USD, or $247.4 million
USD worse than the operating income reported the corresponding period
of the previous year.
As the outlook for the global economy in 2009 remains uncertain, and the
economic growth of emerging countries that have led AGC's worldwide growth
is expected to slow down, the company expects shipments of flat and automotive
glass to remain flat in 2009 throughout all regions. Moreover, the company
expects the growth rate of glass for solar cells to slow as a result of
the worsening economic climate. Based on the outlook for these and other
business conditions, without changing any of its initial plans related
to FY 2009 forecast, AGC expects its income for the half to be significantly
down. (CLICK
HERE to read AGC's outlook for the first half of fiscal year 2009
or see chart below.)
In addition to these financial postings, AGC today announced an organizational
reform for a part of in-house companies and management sections. As of
July 21, AGC will merge its current Flat Glass Company, which produces
and sells glass for construction, industrial and solar cells, and the
current Automotive Glass Company, which produces and sells glass for automotive
use, to create a single all-encompassing Glass Company. The company will
be headquartered in Brussels with regional headquarters in Japan, Belgium
and the United States.
CLICK
HERE to read about AGC's organizational reform.
CLICK
HERE to read changes in the assignments of AGC's executive officers
following the organizational changes.
Outlook for Consolidated Operating Results for the First Half of Fiscal
Year 2009, January 1 through June 30, 2009
(Unit: million USD
|
Net Sales |
Operating Income |
Ordinary income (loss) |
Net Income (loss) |
Outlook as announced this time (A) |
5,132 |
0 |
(51) |
(390) |
Results for the previous term (interim ended June
2008) (B) |
7,945 |
1,124 |
982 |
492 |
(Reference) Annual outlook (fiscal year ending
December 31, 2009) |
10,264 |
307 |
205 |
(431) |
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