Japanese factory automation supplier Fanuc has raised its annual net profit forecast by 18 billion yen ($117 million) due to a recovery in orders from China, bolstered by government subsidies. The company now projects a consolidated net profit of 125.3 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2025, a 6% decline from the previous year. This revised figure, however, falls short of the 127 billion yen forecasted by analysts in the QUICK Consensus survey.
Fanuc’s orders for the first quarter ending in June rose by 12% year-on-year to 197.9 billion yen. Orders from China, which constitute about a quarter of Fanuc’s total, surged by 36%. This increase in demand for factory automation products, such as numerical control equipment, is partly attributed to state subsidies favoring machine tool orders.
The company’s Robodrills, used in metalworking for smartphone production, have also seen increased demand. “The factory automation division is performing solidly, and the Robomachine division is doing much better,” stated Fanuc President Kenji Yamaguchi.
Fanuc has revised its sales and operating profit estimates upwards by 37.9 billion yen and 22 billion yen, respectively. The company now anticipates sales to fall by 1% to 784.3 billion yen, while operating profit is expected to rise by 1% to 143 billion yen. Additionally, a weaker yen has positively impacted the earnings outlook, with Fanuc adjusting its exchange rate assumption to 147.72 yen per dollar.
Despite the positive trends, the robotics segment saw a 4% decline in orders due to reduced investment in electric vehicle production. Yamaguchi noted a shift towards hybrid vehicle investments, creating a temporary lag.
Fanuc reported a 3% year-on-year decrease in first-quarter sales to 195.1 billion yen and a 5% drop in net profit to 28.8 billion yen. While Chinese sales were robust, overall sales in Europe and Japan remained lackluster, impacting the factory automation segment.
