T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd. (Tokyo) reported a sales and profit increase for a year-on-year basis for Q2 2010. Net sales were ¥20,649 million (USD$247.8 million), an increase of 2.7% over Q2 2009, but sales did miss the company’s forecasted plan of ¥21,015 million.
Sales of its fragrance products were at ¥2,536 million, a 0.4% decrease from 2009’s ¥2,547 million due to fewer household product sales, while its flavor products increased 2.2%, from ¥16,236 million to ¥16,587 million, surging on a higher demand for beverage products, including tea. In fact, sales for T. Hasegawa’s tea products increased by approximately ¥200 million in 2010. For its traded items sales, the company saw a 2.6% increase (¥265 million to ¥272 million) for its fragrances, boosted by cosmetic sales, and for flavors, traded items increased from ¥1,061 million in Q2 2009 to ¥1,252 million in Q2 2010, an increase of 17.9% that followed a rising trend of sales for T. Hasegawa’s fruit preparations.
Market changes did see the company revising its financial forecast for 2010, however. Its initial plan mapped for net sales of ¥44,260 million, but that number has been revised to ¥44,220 million, which is still a 2.3% increase over the net sales of ¥43,244 million of 2009. Factors contributing to the forecast revision include a decrease in raw material costs and a decrease in loss on disposal of inventories, which lead to an outcome of obsolete inventory reduction efforts. Additionally, SGA expenses also contributed, as expenses were lower than expected for the building an R&D center, and the company implemented cost-cutting measures overall.
To help support its recovery, T. Hasegawa plans to further manage its resources for its core business of flavors and fragrance, as well as increase its market share by promoting its R&D efficient and sales activities. It also plans to it’s integrate three research institutes into its one new R&D center that began operating in October 2009.
