Tokyo, Japan—Tosoh Corporation is pleased to announce its cumulative consolidated results for the first three quarters of its 2020 fiscal year, from April 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019.

The company’s consolidated net sales for the nine-month period under review were ¥591.8 billion (US$5.4 billion), down ¥54.0 billion, or 8.4%, from the same period of fiscal 2019. The drop in net sales was attributable to a decrease in sales prices caused by a decline in the price of naphtha and by worsening conditions in product markets overseas. And the decrease happened despite the Engineering Group’s steady progress on large-scale projects in the electronics industry.

Operating income likewise decreased, ¥13.9 billion, or 17.3%, to ¥65.8 billion (US$605.3 million), from the same period one year earlier. This decrease was due to the deteriorating trade conditions and a widening gap in inventory reevaluations caused by the lower sales prices. Ordinary income decreased, ¥13.1 billion, or 15.7%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2019, to ¥70.1 billion (US$644.8 million). Foreign exchange losses caused by the yen’s continued appreciation were among the main factors behind the drop in ordinary income. Profit attributable to owners of the parent company, in turn, fell ¥10.1 billion, or 18.0%, to ¥46.2 billion (US$425.0 million).

During the first nine months of Tosoh’s 2020 fiscal year, Japan’s employment and personal income numbers gradually improved. Ongoing trade friction between the US and China, heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East, and other issues, however, are raising concern about worldwide economic stagnation, leaving the economic outlook uncertain.