"Steel metal spreads are expected to improve significantly from the previous forecast due to progress in improving selling prices, lower prices of main raw materials," the company said.
Kobe Steel, Japan's third-biggest steelmaker, forecasts its sales at 2.49 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending on March 31, down 2% from its November prediction, mainly due to a decline in overseas car production amid continued shortage of chips.
On Thursday, Kobe Steel posted a 12% drop in April-December net profit to 47.5 billion yen, as margins for aluminum rolled products, advanced materials, and construction machinery deteriorated from a year before on rising energy costs.
Yet Kobe Steel's sales for the nine-month period ending on Dec 31 were 20% higher at 1.8 trillion yen thanks to stronger steel prices, it said. The company plans to pay 40 yen per share in full-year dividend, flat from a year before.
Japan's top steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp on Thursday posted a 2% increase in April-December net profit to 517 billion yen and said it would pay a record-high full-year dividend of 180 yen per share. ($1 = 130.9600 yen) (Reporting by Katya Golubkova Editing by Bernadette Baum)
