came across this article while reading for class... i thought it might be of some interest to you.
Japanese earnings on course for recovery
Japan’s short but intense first-half results season will this week confirm that a broad recovery in corporate profits remains intact. But analysts are anxious for guidance on whether the strong yen will hurt exporters in the run-up to Christmas. “Guidance for the second half will be important in determining whether the market can resume a sustainable uptrend,” Kathy Matsui and Hiromi Suzuki, Goldman Sachs strategists, wrote to clients. The earnings season, with more than 400 companies reporting on Friday alone, is expected to show the breadth of the recovery in the technology sector after strong results from US technology blue chips such as Apple and Microsoft. Strategists have reason for confidence on improved earnings. Japanese industrial production “has risen 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter , leading us to expect manufacturing operating leverage to again be the dominant driver of the results season”, according to strategists at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo. Manufacturers make up a large part of the Japanese stock market. Because of the high fixed cost of factories and equipment, their profits are sensitive to even small changes in production and sales. There is evidence that stimulus moves such as car scrappage programmes and Japan’s ecopoints scheme for consumer durables have helped sales. Shipments of flat-panel televisions in Japan were up 32.4 per cent in September on the previous year, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. There have also been relatively few revisions to formal earnings forecasts. Aggressive cost-cutting by Japanese companies is expected to have helped profit, if not a sustained recovery. However, some sectors are continuing to suffer. The motor industry, one of the worst hit by the plunge in global demand, is expected to see further losses. Honda Motor, which has focused on small, fuel-efficient vehicles, has weathered the crisis better than most. Among the country’s top three producers, Honda alone is believed to have earned a small net profit.
おめでとう、ホンダ！ ちいさいくるまはいいですね。
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a cute little honda civic. We were very fond of it, but after 14 years or so it started to stall at intersections. At that point we were pretty much holding it together with rubber bands anyway, so we had to get rid of it. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend. We remember it with reverance whenever we try to park in New York. ^_^.