File: An entrance sign for Japanese company Nippon Steel's East Nippon Works Kashima Area facility is pictured in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo on December 6, 2024. (Photo by Richard A Brooks / AFP)
Tokyo: Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. on Friday forecast its net profit for fiscal 2025 to decline 42.9 percent to 200 billion yen (about 1.38 billion U.S. dollars), amid uncertainty over tariffs imposed by the United States.
The Japanese steel giant said in an earnings release that the trend of the U.S. tariff policy is currently unforeseeable and its indirect impact on Nippon Steel may be enormous.
The steelmaker, which has been facing hurdles in its plan to acquire US Steel Corp., said its net profit for fiscal 2024 that ended this March dropped 36.2 percent to 350.23 billion yen as inflation dampened demand for its products.
Meanwhile, its operating profit sank 29.6 percent to 547.96 billion yen, with sales down 1.9 percent at 8.7 trillion yen, Nippon Steel said.
