Hitachi Zosen Narrows Operating Loss in April-June

Tokyo, Aug. 11 (Jiji Press)–Shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen Corp. said Thursday its group operating loss in April-June shrank to 3,852 million yen from 5,482 million yen a year before thanks to improved profitability in its machinery and prime mover division.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Hitachi Zosen reported a net loss of 956 million yen, against a loss of 4,107 million yen.

Sales decreased 9.1 pct to 48,902 million yen. Sales in the environmental equipment and plant division rose 28.7 pct, but those in the shipbuilding division fell 64.4 pct.

Hitachi Zosen left unchanged its group earnings estimates for the full year to March 2006, forecasting sales at 330 billion yen, operating profit at 7 billion yen and net profit at one billion yen. [EARNINGS]END