JAPAN BUSINESS DECLINE SEEN BOTTOMING OUT
The extended decline in Japan's overall
business performance was likely to bottom out in the current
January-March quarter, the Finance Ministry said.
    Improved corporate earnings and better prospects for the
stability of the yen had made companies more optimistic, it
said after carrying out a quarterly survey.
    The survey, conducted in February, was based on
questionnaires returned by 8,328 large and small firms in all
sectors except the finance and insurance industries.
    The survey said overall corporate earnings were expected to
turn positive with an estimated 0.4 pct year on year increase
in the second half of fiscal 1986 ending on March 31 after a
5.4 pct decrease in the first half.
    Corporate earnings will grow further in the first half of
fiscal 1987, rising an estimated 10.7 pct, it added.
    Manufacturers' earnings, hit hard by the yen's steady rise
against the dollar, will rise 7.7 pct in first-half fiscal 1987
after falling 10.7 pct in the second half of fiscal 1986, it
said.
    Overall earnings of non-manufacturing companies will rise
11.8 pct year on year in the first half of fiscal 1987 after
growing 9.8 pct in the second half of fiscal 1986, the survey
said.
    It said this figure was bolstered by profits of firms such
as electric power and gas companies which have benefitted from
the yen's appreciation.
 REUTER
