Tokyo - DENSO Corporation today announced global financial results for the first half year ended September 30, 2003:

Consolidated net sales totalled 1,226.3 billion yen (US$11.0 billion), a 7.2 percent increase from the same period last fiscal year.

Consolidated net income totalled 52.9 billion yen (US$476.9 million), a 50.3 percent decrease from the same period last fiscal year due to extraordinary income. This was caused mainly by liquidation of the entrusted welfare pension benefits by the Government of Japan recorded in the previous period. Excluding the effect of this extraordinary income, the net income would be 52.0 billion yen (US$468.5 million), a 17.4 percent increase from the previous period.

Operating income totalled 91.6 billion yen (US$825.4 million), a 14.4 percent increase from the same period last fiscal year.

“We were satisfied with the financial results of the first half of this year,” said DENSO Corporation Chief Financial Officer Nobuaki Katoh. “The overseas increase in car production for Japanese auto manufacturers contributed to these satisfactory results.”

In Japan, sales totalled 889.2 billion yen (US$8.0 billion), a 6.6 percent increase from the same period last fiscal year, and operating income totalled 64.8 billion yen (US$583.5 million), a 15.3 percent increase, which was led by sales expansion and a demand for replacement trucks due to new diesel engine emission regulations.

Although a steady increase in sales volumes for Japanese car manufacturers continues in North America, Central America and South America, an appreciated yen against the U.S. dollar resulted in a slight increase of both sales and operating income. Combined sales for those regions totalled 284.4 billion yen (US$2.6 billion), a 1.2 percent increase from the same period last fiscal year (a 5.3 percent increase in local currency), and operating income totalled 17.8 billion yen (US$160.2 million ), an increase of 2.1 percent.

In Europe, production volume increases, especially for Japanese car manufacturers, and a depreciated yen against the euro led to increased sales of 157.6 billion yen (US$1.4 billion), an 18.7 percent increase from the same period in the previous fiscal year (a 6.7 percent increase in local currency) and 0.2 billion yen (US$ 1.8 million), operating income.

In Asia and Oceania, sales totalled 108.4 billion yen (US$1.0 billion), a 21.4 percent increase from the same period last fiscal year, and operating income totalled 9.2 billion yen (US$82.7 million), a 29.2 percent increase. Substantial sales increases, especially in Thailand, China and Australia, contributed to drastic increases in both sales and operating income.