Marubeni Corp. on Monday cut its profit outlook for the year through March as the trading house booked losses totaling ¥120 billion due mainly to tumbling commodity prices.
Marubeni now expects a group net profit of ¥60 billion, sharply down from its earlier estimate of ¥180 billion, and an operating profit of ¥120 billion, down from ¥130 billion projected on Feb. 5. The company maintained its sales estimate at ¥12.5 trillion.
The ¥120 billion loss — ¥75 billion for resource-related businesses and ¥45 billion for nonresource units — includes impairment losses on its copper business in Chile and iron ore business in Australia.
Marubeni joined other major trading companies in taking a hit from the rout in crude oil and other commodity markets, as they rely heavily on resource-linked businesses.
For fiscal 2015, Mitsubishi Corp. forecast a group net loss of ¥150 billion, the first since its establishment in 1954, while Mitsui & Co. projected a consolidated net loss of ¥70 billion, the first since its founding in 1947.