Fiscal 2008 ended on a sour note for Yokogawa, as sales and orders both experienced double-digit declines against the prior year, leading to a net loss for the Japanese automation equipment maker.
Net sales for the year ended March 31 totaled ¥376.5 billion, down 14% from 2007’s ¥437.4 billion. Orders saw an even bigger drop, plunging 18% to ¥374.3 billion. Although the automation company began the year with a decent Q1, the global economic contraction sank its teeth in deeper as the year wore on, turning the usually high-flying fourth quarter into the worst performer, with orders nosediving 35%.
“The economic downturn in the second half of the year triggered by the global financial crisis, falling investment in semiconductor manufacturing facilities as a result of a sluggish semiconductor market, and sharp appreciation of the yen since last September caused sales to plunge from the previous fiscal year,” the company said in a statement today.
Sales in the Industrial Automation and Controls division, by far the company’s largest, fell 7% year over year to ¥301.2 billion, while the smaller Measurement unit, which is largely dependent on semiconductor manufacturers, saw sales more than halved, dropping to ¥34.1 billion from ¥68.8 billion in 2007.