ANA changes profit forecast to loss

All Nippon Airways Co. announced Thursday that it is revising its forecast of a 2.3 billion yen net profit in its business report for the term that ends in March 1998 into a 3.2 billion yen net loss.

The carrier also revised its previous pretax profit forecast from 15 billion yen to 5.2 billion yen, down 65.3 percent. The firm will be unable to pay dividends to shareholders for the first time in 30 years. Sales are anticipated to total about 910.3 billion yen, down 19.6 billion yen, or 2.1 percent, from the previous forecast.

The poor performance is attributed to a drop in demand for passenger services in a stagnant economy, as well as the influence of bad weather, such as the heavy snowfalls seen earlier this year. "In the first half (of the business year), we could not do well. In the second half, performance did not improve because of the bad economy and financial turmoil," said Kichisaburo Nomura, president of ANA.

On a consolidated basis, the carrier anticipates zero in pretax profits, compared with a previous forecast of 15 billion yen. It is also revising its net profit forecast from 3.8 billion yen to a loss projection of 7.2 billion yen. At the same time, the carrier disclosed a three-year plan to reconstruct its management, aiming to resume dividends by the end of the business year that ends in March 2000.