Showa Rubber faces losses this year and next

ERJ staff report (DS)

Tokyo

-- Showa Rubber Co Ltd reported level sales for the 12 months ended 31

March, 2009, and expects sales to grow in the current year. Showa says

it offers one-stop service of mould design, material test, and even

high-volume production using all kinds of commodity and technical

rubber materials.

Sales for the 12 months amounted to yen 3900

million (euro 30.2 million), up by 0.1 percent on the previous year.

The company expects sales in the six months to 30 Sep 2009 to be up by

by 3.1 percent on the 2008 figure, at yen 2140 million. Sales for the

full year are expected to be yen 4430 million, up by around 13.5

percent on the most recent year.

Despite the healthy sales

figures, Showa expects to report a negative operating profit in each of

the periods. In the most recent 12 months, operating loss was yen 261

million, twice as bad as the yen 136 million loss posted a year

previously. The forecast for the current year is a loss of yen 5

million, recovering strongly from a loss of yen 71 million in the first

half.

In terms of net profit, Kinugawa recorded yen 1300 million

for the most recent year, an improvement on the loss of yen 2410

million a year ago. The company expects a loss of yen 1630 million in

the first half, reducing to break even for the full year ended March

2010.

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Reuters report