"Japanese Listed Companies' Net Profit Doubles During Abenomics... Toyota's Net Profit Increases by 1.8 Trillion Yen"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 11th that the performance of listed companies significantly improved during his 7 years and 8 months in office. Due to the impact of Abenomics, a weak yen phenomenon occurred, and net profits more than doubled through cost reductions.

According to the report, the net profit of Japanese listed companies for the 2019 fiscal year (April 2019 to March 2020) was 23 trillion yen (approximately 257.4 trillion KRW), which is 2.1 times larger compared to the 2011 fiscal year. The company with the largest net profit during Abe's second administration was Toyota Motor Corporation, with an increase of 1.7926 trillion yen in net profit. Sony ranked second, with net profits increasing by more than 1 trillion yen during the same period, and other companies such as Panasonic, Sharp, and Honda also saw significant increases in net profits.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun stated that the substantial increase in corporate performance began after Prime Minister Abe's speech at the New York Stock Exchange in 2013. Net profits were 10 trillion yen in the 2011 fiscal year, about half the level of the 2007 fiscal year, but reached 24 trillion yen in the 2013 fiscal year, marking the highest profit in six years. Subsequently, in the 2017 fiscal year, net profits rose to 35 trillion yen, entering the 30 trillion yen range.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun explained, "This is due to demand creation through financial easing and fiscal policies implemented by the Abe administration," adding, "In particular, the effect of financial easing was significant, with the exchange rate rising from the 70 yen range per dollar in 2012 to the early 125 yen range at one point in 2015." This improved the profitability of export companies and increased the number of visitors to Japan, leading to higher sales for related companies.

In fact, for Toyota, the effect of the weak yen on profit increase was estimated at 1.49 trillion yen. The improvement in the yen-dollar exchange rate reduced costs by about 1.41 trillion yen, and the effect of increased sales generated about 640 billion yen.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.