案例分析题By Paul Abrahams in Tokyo
Results from Japan’s largest petrochemicals companies for the year to March 31st reflect the crisis facing a sector plagued by sluggish domestic demand，over capacity，plunging prices and the appreciation of the yen.
News of the sector’s dire trading position follow this week’s decision by Showa Denko to sell its poly styrene business.
The company，a marginal manufacturer，sold its 30，000tones a year Kawasaki Plant to Asahi Chemical，Japan’s largest polystyrene manufacturer with capacity of about 333，000tones a year，equivalent to about 25per cent of the market.The move was the latest in a series of alliances and mergers as the troubled industry restructures.
Mitsubishi Petrochemical，the country’s biggest plastics group，reported a loss of Y 8.39bn （$80m）compared with pre-tax profits last year of Y 8.25bn.The group made an operating loss of Y 13.8bn，the first since 1982.The poor result came despite cost cutting measures，lower raw material prices，and Y 4bn worth of profits from equity sales.
Turnover fell 12.2per cent from Y 372bn to Y 326bn，as prices and volumes declined.Earnings per share，which reached Y 52.5in 1991，fell to a loss per share of Y 9.44.The group，which is scheduled to merge with Mitsubishi Kasei on October 1st，cut its dividend from Y 8per share to Y 4.
Mitsubishi Kasei’s pre-tax profits fell 76.8per cent from Y 9.3bn last year to Y 2.2bn.The group reported its first operating loss in 40years at Y 467m，and only managed to post positive pre-tax results by selling Y15.7bn worth of equities.Turnover fell 1.8per cent，the fourth yearly decline，to Y696bn.The dividend was halved to Y 3per share.
Mr.Morihisa Takano，managing director，said the newly merged group would generate pre-tax profits of Y 10bn on sales of Y 55bn during the year to March 1995.
He predicted petrochemicals prices would bottom out during the summer.No decision had been made a bout the dividend，but the new company could pass it during the current year，the pre-tax profits at Mitsui Petrochemical Industries，Japan’s biggest polyethylene maker，plunged 75per cent from Y 9bn to Y 2.26bn on sales down 9.3per cent at Y 272bn.The company blamed poor demand for the slump which offset the benefits of cost-cutting measures.The dividend is unchanged at Y 6per share.The group forecasts pre-tax profits for the current year marginally up at Y 3bn on turnover of Y 276bn.
Shin-Etsu，one of Japan’s biggest makers of poly vinyl chloride，reported profits down 26.1per cent from Y 17.6bn to Y 13bn.Sales increased 0.2per cent from Y 275bn to Y 276bn.Net profits fell 26.6per cent to Y 7.08bn，or Y 21.85per share.
The group maintained the final dividend at Y3.75，making the full-year pay out Y7.5per share.Shin-Etsu forecasts pre-tax profits for the cur rent year of Y 15.5bn on sales of Y 277bn.
The outlook for the petrochemicals industry remains bleak.The imbalance between supply and demand for ethylene，the basic building block of petrochemicals，is about 2.8m tones of ethylene and is set to deteriorate further this year.
A massive 700，000-tonne-a-year ethylene complex owned by Maruzen，Mitsui Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical comes on stream later this year and Mitsubishi Petrochemical is also commissioning a new 300，000-tonne-a-year plant this year.
—You will hear a report presented by a journalist from Tokyo.He talks about the difficult situations met by Japanese chemical groups.He gives some important figures of four biggest chemical groups in Japan.
—For each question 23-30mark one letter （A，B or C）for the correct answer
—After you have listened once，replay he recording.
The crisis met by Japanese chemical groups is caused by（）