Idemitsu Kosan Co. said Thursday it has lowered its estimate of group net profit for the year that ended in March to ¥2.8 billion, down sharply from the ¥20 billion it forecast in February, due partly to cancellation of construction of an oil reserve facility and valuation losses on stock holdings.
The oil wholesaler now projects group sales of ¥3.80 trillion, down from its earlier estimate of ¥3.91 trillion, and pretax profit of ¥89 billion, against the previous forecast of ¥90 billion.
The oil company estimates ¥28 billion in extraordinary losses, widened from the previously projected ¥19 billion.
The scrapping of the oil stockpiling project accounted for ¥4.8 billion of the losses. It had planned to create an oil reserve in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, but gave up on the idea since shrinking oil demand has rendered the service unnecessary.