More than 60% of overseas affiliates of Japanese companies expect to post operating profits in 2021, rebounding from a record low of 48.0% the previous year but still the second-lowest level in the last decade, according to a survey.
The reading of 62.6% suggests performances by Japanese businesses operating abroad — which slumped significantly in 2020 due to the impact of the novel coronavirus — "have shown an upswing globally, but the momentum of the recovery lacked strength," said an online survey by the Japan External Trade Organization.
By region, 57.1% of Japanese businesses operating in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations forecast they will chalk up profits, while the profits of those operating in Europe and North America have yet to recover to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, it said.