Asahi Glass shares rose as much as 75 yen to 1,549 yen, heading for their largest one-day gain since Jan. 6. The shares were traded at 1,543 yen, 4.7 percent higher, as of 10:38 a.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Tokyo-based Asahi Glass said it expects to post net income of 80 billion yen ($678 million) for the year ending Dec. 31, on sales of 1.6 trillion yen, a 4.8 percent increase from 2005. Net income for 2005 fell 23 percent to 60 billion yen, the company said in a statement distributed through the exchange yesterday.
Asahi Glass said it plans to raise its annual capacity for producing glass substrates for liquid-crystal displays to 37 million square meters by the end of next year from 22 million last year. If demand exceeds expectations, it will further expand production to 42 million square meters, at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion yen, the glassmaker said in the statement.
Asahi Glass Rises on Profit Forecast, Expansion Plans
Shares of Asahi Glass Co., Japan's largest glassmaker, rose as much as 5.1 percent as the company expects its profit to increase 33 percent this year and plans to expand its capacity for producing liquid-crystal display glass.