Japan Companies May Have Missed Initial Profit Forecasts by 18%

Japanese companies whose fiscal years ended in March may have seen profits fall short of their initial forecasts by 18% in an early sign of how the virus outbreak is hitting the country.

Full-year net income of listed companies is on track for a total of 27.4 trillion yen ($258 billion), compared with guidance of 33.2 trillion yen given at the end of May last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The total is based on results for the 279 companies that had reported as of May 1 and guidance for the remaining 2,154 firms, including revisions to earlier forecasts.