Mitsubishi books 430b yen impairment, expects annual loss

[TOKYO] Mitsubishi Corp, Japan's largest trading house, expects to book an impairment charge of 430 billion yen (S$5.22 billion) on its commodities business.

The Tokyo-based trader also expects a net loss of 150 billion yen in the 12 months ending March 31, compared with net income of 400.6 billion yen the previous year, according to a regulatory statement.

Japan's "sogo shosha", or general trading houses like Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co and Sumitomo Corp invested in metal and energy only to see prices fall, resulting in writedowns that squeezed profits.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index, a measure of returns from 22 items, has tumbled about 40 per cent in the last two years, earlier this year touching the lowest level since 1991.

On Wednesday, rival trading house Mitsui booked 260 billion yen in one-off charges and forecast its first net loss since it was founded in its modern form in 1947.

Sumitomo took a 77 billion yen writedown at a nickel project in Madagascar earlier this year.

BLOOMBERG