February 10, 2006

Ajinomoto's profit affected by cheap Chinese lysine

Ajinomoto reported on Jan 31 that its operating profit for its amino acid business for the nine months ended Dec 31 fell by 55.5 percent to JPY11.2 billion due to emerging cheap Chinese lysine.

The cheap Chinese lysine caused the Japanese seasoning maker's lysine products to drop in prices. Lysine is a type of amino acid used in animal feed.

As such, its group net profit fell 23.3 percent from the previous year to JPY29.55 billion, and also due to higher costs of raw materials.

A group pretax profit of JPY47.37 billion was reported, down 21.5 percent. Its operating profit also fell by 21.2 percent to JPY45.28 billion. 

For the year ending Mar 31, Ajinomoto forecasts a net profit of JPY36 billion and a pretax profit of JPY61 billion on sales of JPY1.1 trillion.