Japan“s Hoya Corp., manufacturer of optical glass, eyeglasses and crystal, posted a 11% year-on-year rise in group net profit to 15.5 billion yen in April-December, company officials said.
The compa…
Japan“s Hoya Corp., manufacturer of optical glass, eyeglasses and crystal, posted a 11% year-on-year rise in group net profit to 15.5 billion yen in April-December, company officials said. The company attributed the growth to a reduced extraordinary loss and lower tax payments, offsetting damage from the strong yen. Group sales in the first three quarters of fiscal 1999 slid 3% to 149.9 billion yen, due mainly to the weaker dollar. The company settled transactions at an average rate of 111.71 yen per dollar, compared with 131 yen the previous year, pushing down sales by 7.9 billion yen. Consolidated operating profit dropped 2% to 25.8 billion yen due to the strong yen. Group pretax profit fell 0.5% to 26.1 billion yen. Extraordinary loss shrunk to 800 million yen from 1.8 billion yen, because of reduced loss from disposal of fixed assets. Tax payments fell 8% to 9.5 billion yen, mainly due to the transfer of production to Southeast Asia where tax rates are lower. For January-March, the company expects the dollar to average 100 yen. Despite the stronger yen, it forecasts group sales for the full fiscal 1999 will fall only 1% to 199.5 billion yen, thanks to the release of new products. Group net profit will likely grow 9% in fiscal 1999 to 19.5 billion yen, hitting a record for the second straight year. Operating profit is forecast to climb 6% to 33.5 billion yen. Consolidated return on equity is seen rising 0.3 percentage points to around 11.5%.