MHI Reports First Ever Loss

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. reported its first-ever loss, primarily because it had to redo some construction work on overseas plants. The first-time fall into the red comes as Japan's traditional industries continue to suffer from the nation's prolonged economic slump as corporations have only recently signaled they plan to raise investment in infrastructure. Slack shipbuilding sales and a price decline in machinery pushed sales down to 2.88 trillion yen from 2.91 trillion yen. The largest maker of heavy machinery in Japan posted a consolidated net loss of 137 billion yen ($1.27 billion) for the year ended March 31, against an 18 billion yen profit the previous year.