Nippon Steel excludes US Steel from profit guidance

Nippon Steel, Japan's biggest steelmaker, said it expects to report a 14% fall in annual profit before one-offs for the current fiscal year, but that excluded its outlook for US Steel, due to significant challenges in the US market.

- YUKA OBAYASHI KATYA GOLUBKOVA

The Japanese steelmaker expects an underlying business profit, or profit adjusted for one-offs, of ¥680 billion ($4.51 billion) for the year ending in March, down from ¥793.7 billion last year.

Nippon Steel, which acquired US Steel in June in a $15 billion deal, said it excluded the business from its forecast for this fiscal year because "the current US steel market conditions are significantly below the levels initially anticipated" in addition to cost rises due to equipment-related issues and "heightened uncertainty in the US market."