Asahi Kasei Braces for 1st Net Loss in 20 Years

Tokyo, March 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Asahi Kasei Corp. <3407> said Wednesday that it expects to incur a group net loss of 105 billion yen in fiscal 2022, its first red ink in 20 years.

For the current year through March, the major chemical group revised down its bottom line forecast from 70 billion yen in profit, reflecting an impairment loss of 185 billion yen on a U.S. battery materials unit. The net loss would also be largest for Asahi Kasei.

The U.S. unit, Polypore International LP, which Asahi Kasei acquired in 2015, is strong in dry-process separators, an insulating material for lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles.

But its sales did not grow as expected because electric vehicles use a different type of separator.

Asahi Kasei plans to expand investment to boost production of wet-process separators used in many electric vehicles, aiming to build a new plant in North America.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]