Kobe Steel to cut spending after booking annual loss
2020-05-13 15:05:36 [Print]
Kobe Steel Ltd., Japan's No.3 steelmaker, said on Monday it will cut capital expenditure by a third after one-off charges and weaker demand in steel and aluminum even before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it to an annual loss.
The steelmaker reported a 68.0 billion yen ($634 million) net loss for the year to the end of March, against a profit of 35.9 billion yen a year earlier, as a special loss of 65 billion yen, including impairment losses on its aluminum and titanium assets, ate into earnings.
Kobe Steel didn't give guidance for the current year, saying it was difficult to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, but Yoshihiko Katsukawa, senior managing executive officer, said the company would cut annual capital expenditure to 160 billion yen this year from 240 billion yen in the year just ended.
Kobe Steel's run rate at its steel plants is down about 20-30% from a year earlier, Katsukawa said. "We have no plan to suspend our blast furnaces for now, but we can't rule out such a possibility depending on future demand," Katsukawa said.
The steelmaker reported a 68.0 billion yen ($634 million) net loss for the year to the end of March, against a profit of 35.9 billion yen a year earlier, as a special loss of 65 billion yen, including impairment losses on its aluminum and titanium assets, ate into earnings.
Kobe Steel didn't give guidance for the current year, saying it was difficult to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, but Yoshihiko Katsukawa, senior managing executive officer, said the company would cut annual capital expenditure to 160 billion yen this year from 240 billion yen in the year just ended.
Kobe Steel's run rate at its steel plants is down about 20-30% from a year earlier, Katsukawa said. "We have no plan to suspend our blast furnaces for now, but we can't rule out such a possibility depending on future demand," Katsukawa said.
