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November 29, 2007 News
Boost in Overseas Sales, Reaches 43% on a Consolidated Basis, Mainly from Sales to China and Southeast Asia
Nagase &  Co., Ltd. has been recording a continuous boost in overseas sales, mainly from sales to China and Southeast Asia. Overseas sales of 160,250 million yen were recorded for the current interim term period ending September 30 (consolidated basis), which represented a year-on-year increase of 15%, and the percentage of overseas sales to consolidated sales reached 43.4%, which represented a year-on-year increase of 2.8 points. In particular, various businesses in Southeast Asia, most notably the plastics business, performed well, recording increases of 20% or more year-on-year.

The percentage of Nagase's overseas sales has been increasing yearly and on an interim basis, increases of 37% and 41% were recorded in FY 2004 and FY 2006, respectively, while this year the rate of increase reached 43%. Especially remarkable was the fact that compared to the sluggish increase of 2.6% year-on-year in domestic sales for the first half, overseas sales managed to record double-digit increases over the same period.

First half sales by region were as follows: Sales to Northeast Asia increased by 12.4% year-on-year to 90,810 million yen, Southeast Asia increased by 21.8% to 47,660 million yen, North America increased by 20.6% to 13,410 million yen, and Europe and other regions decreased by 0.1% to 8,360 million yen. Of the sales to Northeast Asia, the majority was to the Greater China Region (China and Taiwan), with dramatic increases recorded in electronic displays and its peripheral businesses and strong performances by chemicals and resins for the automobile industry. In Southeast Asia, resins for precision and electronic equipments performed strongly, while chemicals and electronics also recorded increases. In North America, chemicals performed strongly.

In terms of Nagase's overseas subsidiaries, Nagase (Hong Kong) Ltd. recorded year-on-year increases of 55% in sales and 31% in operating income, while Nagase (Thailand) Co., Ltd. also recorded year-on-year increases of 25% in sales and 44% in operating income. Nagase (Hong Kong)' performance was boosted by growth in the electronics business, while Thailand's performance was backed by the strong bahts.

Operating income by region, on the other hand, was as follows: Domestic operating income decreased by 14.2% year-on-year as a result of increases in non-consolidated personnel expenses and other factors, while overseas operating income recorded year-on-year increases of 32.4% in Northeast Asia, 24.1% in Southeast Asia, and 126.2% in North America. Operating income decreased by 22.4% year-on-year in Europe.

Although the effects of the exchange rates (the yen depreciation) dominated performance overall, dramatic increases in sales from regions excluding Europe, which usually performs better in the latter half of the year, triggered the boost in results.

(From The Chemical Daily)

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