Toray Industries, Inc. reported record-breaking net profits of 99,418 million yen in its consolidated business results for the fiscal year ending at the end of March 2017. A significant improvement of extraordinary net income contributed to its business performance, and it was the third consecutive fiscal year that net profits reached an all-time high. Toray is planning to achieve record-breaking net profits of 100 billion yen in the current fiscal year ending in March 2018.
On a consolidated basis, sales decreased by 3.7% compared to the previous fiscal year to 2,026,470 million yen, and operating profits declined by 4.9% to 146,893 million yen, while net profits rose 10.3% to 99,418 million yen. The decrease in sales and operating profits was attributed to declines in the selling prices of petrochemical material-derived products and the fact the appreciation of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies resulted in declines in sales and profits at overseas subsidiaries when converted into Japanese currency.
Overall sales of the Fibers & Textiles segment decreased by 4.0% to 856,124 million yen, and the segment’s operating profits declined by 3.1% to 66,768 million yen. Demand in Japan remained weak for both apparel and industrial applications. As for overseas business, mainly in apparel applications, the performance of some subsidiaries in Southeast Asia and other regions were affected by a slowdown in final demand in Europe and China. Meanwhile, materials for automotive applications and hygiene products remained strong in general.
The Carbon Fiber Composite Materials segment posted a 13.2% decrease in sales to 161,608 million yen with operating profits falling 33.6% to 23,963 million yen. While final demand for aircraft applications was strong, demand for carbon fiber intermediate products (prepreg) remained weak, reflecting inventory adjustments in the supply chain. Demand for products for compressed natural gas tank applications was slow due to the impact from the decline in crude oil prices. Meanwhile, shipments for wind turbine blade applications increased on the back of growing demand.
As for its consolidated performance in the current fiscal year, Toray forecast sales of 2,220 billion yen, operating profits of 165 billion yen and net profits of 100 billion yen.
The Fibers & Textiles segment expects sales of 925 billion yen and operating profits of 76 billion yen, and the Carbon Fiber Composite Materials segment anticipates sales of 180 billion yen and operating profits of 24 billion yen.
The Fibers & Textiles segments plans to expand business centering on nonwovens, airbags, artificial leathers, etc. Investments are to be aggressively made with plans for introducing equipment for producing nylon fiber for automobile airbags and airbag fabric production equipment in Mexico.