In a report on Wednesday, Toshiba Corp. (TYO: 6502) said that its operating profit in the fiscal second quarter posted a 64% decline as it struggled to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis that has so far infected a little under 52 million people worldwide and caused more than 1.2 million deaths.
Shares of the company opened more than 1.5% up on Wednesday but lost almost the entire intraday gain before market close. Including the price action, Toshiba now has a per-share price of £19.67. In comparison, the stock had plummeted to as low as £14.48 per share in March due to COVID-19 disruptions.
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Toshiba had started the year at a per-share price of £26.67. Here’s what you need to know about how can you start trading on the stock market.
Toshiba forecasts £790 million of full-year profit
Toshiba reported £110 million of operating profit in the quarter that concluded in September versus £320 million in the same quarter last year. According to Refinitiv, experts had forecast a higher £170 million of operating profit for Toshiba in Q2.
For the full year, the Japanese multinational said it expects £790 million of profit that represents a 15.7% annualised decline. Analysts, on the other hand, are calling for a much higher £940 million of annual profit for Toshiba this year. In separate news from Japan, Softbank said it swung to £4.61 billion of net profit in the fiscal second quarter.
The Minato City-based conglomerate also revealed its target for the midterm on Wednesday and said that it was aiming for £2.86 billion of profit in the year that will conclude in March 2026. Toshiba is targeting a profit to sales ratio of 10% this year.
Toshiba to expand its footprint in renewable energy
To hit its midterm targets, Toshiba plans on expanding its footprint in quantum cryptography, medicine, and renewable energy markets in the upcoming years. Toshiba also said on Wednesday that it will quit taking new orders for coal-fired power plants.
These figures remained roughly unchanged as compared to its targets for fiscal 2023 that Toshiba had highlighted in its previous business plan.
Toshiba performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of roughly 20%. At the time of writing, the Japanese multinational conglomerate has a market cap of £8.9 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 167.06.
