Hitachi has lowered its revenue forecast for FY 2020 by 4pc to JPY720bn ($6.9bn) from JPY750bn, citing dropping demand due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company’s steel revenue is expected to drop by 10pc to JPY208bn for its specialty steel product segment and increase by 3pc to JPY226bn in its functional components and equipment business this year.
In the H1 FY20 (April-September), Hitachi Metals’ specialty steel revenue declined by 18pc to JPY104.5bn from JPY127.3bn in H1 FY19. Specialty steel revenue in Q2 2020 fell to JPY52bn from JPY63.6bn in the same quarter last year.
Revenue from the company’s functional components and equipment business declined by 34pc to JPY103.8bn in H1 FY20 from JPY157.5bn H1 FY19. Its revenue in the second quarter declined to JPY63.6bn from JPY74.2bn in Q2 2019.
The Japanese manufacturer’s total revenue in H1 dropped by 25pc to JPY340.8bn from JPY456.9bn in the same six months last year, while its revenue in Q2 2020 fell to JPY186bn from JPY222.9bn in Q2 2019.
The company reported a loss of JPY12.4bn in H1 FY20 compared with a net income of JPY 5.9bn during the same period last fiscal. In Q2 2020, it reported a loss of JPY5.1bn compared with an income of JPY400mn in the same quarter last year.
($1 = JPY103.30)