Asahi Shimbun Co. said Monday that it incurred its first ever group operating loss last year due to falls in advertising revenue.
In a reversal from an operating profit of ¥3.4 billion the previous year, the newspaper publisher lost ¥4.0 billion in the 2009 business year that ended March 31. It is the first time the company has posted an operating loss since it began releasing its consolidated earnings in the business year ended in March 2000.
Asahi Shimbun logged a group net loss of ¥3.3 billion in fiscal 2009 for the second straight year of loss, on sales of ¥470.2 billion, down 12.5 percent from the previous year and the fifth straight year of decline.