Japanese Manufacturers' Net Profit Falls for First Time in Two Years... 2% Decline Among 500 Listed Companies

Toyota's Net Profit Down 4%
Mitsubishi Motors Down 75%
Nippon Steel Down 36%
JFE Holdings Down 53%

The net profit of Japanese manufacturing companies listed on the stock exchange turned to a decline in the last business year (April 2024 to March 2025) after two years of growth.

Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan. EPA·Yonhap News

According to a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on May 11, a tally of last year's net profits for about 500 manufacturing companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (using company forecasts for those that have not yet announced results) showed a decrease of approximately 2% compared to the previous year.

The sectors that performed particularly poorly were automobiles and steel. Toyota Motor's net profit fell by about 4% to 4.765 trillion yen (approximately 45.8 trillion won), while Mitsubishi Motors saw a 74% decline. Nippon Steel's net profit dropped by 36%, and JFE Holdings reported a 53% decrease.

Nikkei explained, "Competition intensified in the US and Chinese markets, and the steel sector was also affected by China's deflationary exports." The newspaper further noted, "In the current business year, US tariff measures and the trend of a stronger yen may become additional burdens, raising the possibility that these struggles will be prolonged."

However, sectors such as electronics and chemicals, which benefited from favorable investment trends in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, showed strong performance. Tokyo Electron's net profit increased by as much as 50%.

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