According to the corporate statistics survey released by the Ministry of Finance, the total ordinary profit of domestic companies from October to December last year decreased for the first time in eight quarters.
The manufacturing sector as a whole pushed down the economy as there were moves to pass on the rise in energy prices to prices.
The Corporate Statistics Survey is conducted once every three months, targeting more than 30,000 companies with capital of 10 million yen or more.
The total ordinary profit of domestic companies from October to December last year, excluding finance and insurance, was 22.3768 trillion yen, down 2.8% from the same period in the previous year, the first decrease in eight quarters.
Among them, the manufacturing industry decreased by 15.7%, which was affected by the decline in profits of chemical, petroleum and coal-related companies due to the inability to fully pass on the increase in raw material prices due to soaring energy prices.
The non-manufacturing sector increased by 5.2% due to a recovery in performance in the service industry such as transportation due to the impact of nationwide travel assistance.
On the other hand, business fixed investment increased by 7.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.
In anticipation of the progress of digitalization and the expansion of demand accompanying the recovery from the corona crisis, companies such as information and communication and chemicals are moving to increase production capacity, with 6% of manufacturing industries and 8.6% of non-manufacturing industries. Both increased.
The Ministry of Finance said, "Although the economy continues to recover moderately, we will continue to pay attention to the impact of price hikes on corporate activities."