March 31, 2008 - Ajinomoto Co., Inc. announced revisions to its consolidated performance forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 to reflect recent performance trends and other factors. The new forecast replaces the one announced at the same time that interim results were released on November 9, 2007.
Reasons for the Revision
In the domestic food products business, operating income is expected to fall substantially short of the previous forecast as a result of a larger-than-expected decrease in sales volume of HON-DASHI due to a change in pricing policy in connection with a product revision, a drop in sales volume of frozen foods following an incident involving frozen gyoza manufactured in China that occurred at the end of January, and higher-than-projected raw material prices. In the overseas food products business, operating income is expected to exceed the previous forecast, with firm sales of seasonings and processed foods. In the amino acids business, meeting the operating income forecast will be difficult as a result of lower export profitability of umami seasonings for processed food manufacturers due to a stronger currency exchange rate for countries where export bases are located, as well as higher raw material prices.
As a result of the above, overall consolidated net sales and income for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 are expected to be below the previous forecast, as shown above.
Note:The performance forecast above contains assumptions and predictions that form the basis of the Company’s plans. Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the above forecast.