KYOTO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) today announced its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 (“fiscal year 2018” or “the period”), as summarized below. Complete details are available at: https://global.kyocera.com/ir/index.html

Summary
Kyocera Corporation (“the Company”) attained record consolidated net sales totaling JPY1,577,039 (USD14,878) million during the period, an increase of 10.8% over the prior year, due to the following factors:

• Robust demand for information and communications equipment, automobiles, and industrial machinery led the Company to expand production capacity, which enabled a revenue increase in the components business.
• Revenue in the Company’s document solutions business increased as well, following new product launches and aggressive sales promotion.
• Mergers and acquisitions made new contributions to the Company’s business.

Profitability in the components and document solutions businesses improved due to increased revenue, cost reduction, and rising productivity. However, long-term purchase agreements for polysilicon material used in the Company’s solar energy business led to a write-down totaling JPY50,165 (USD473) million. As a result, profit from operations decreased 8.6%, to JPY95,575 (USD902) million, and income before income taxes decreased 4.3%, to JPY131,866 (USD1,244) million. In addition, extraordinary tax expenses incurred by U.S. subsidiaries including AVX Corporation resulting primarily from U.S. tax law revisions reduced net income by approximately JPY11,000 (USD104) million. Net income attributable to Kyocera Corporation’s shareholders consequently decreased 21.2%, to JPY81,789 (USD772) million.

Averaged exchange rates during fiscal year 2018 show the Japanese yen weakened against the U.S. dollar by approximately 2.8%, to JPY111; and against the euro by approximately 9.2%, to JPY130, as compared with year-ago averages. This had the effect of increasing net sales and income before income taxes by approximately JPY39,000 (USD368) million and JPY16,000 (USD151) million, respectively.

Consolidated Forecast: Year Ending March 31, 2019
The year ending March 31, 2019 (fiscal year 2019) is expected to bring continued strong demand for components used in information and communications equipment, automobiles, and semiconductor fabrication, with particular demand for advanced components of high functionality. Continued production capacity expansions, combined with recent mergers and acquisitions, are expected to facilitate increased revenue in fiscal year 2019.

The Company expects rising profit in fiscal year 2019 resulting from increased sales, continued cost reduction, and productivity improvements attained through expanded deployment of industrial automation and AI-enabled processes.

Kyocera forecasts a strengthening of the Japanese yen during fiscal year 2019 to JPY105 against the U.S. dollar, marking appreciation of JPY6 (5.4%) compared with JPY111 for fiscal 2018, while forecasting JPY130 against the euro (unchanged from fiscal 2018).

As previously announced, Kyocera will transition from U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and has used IFRS to develop its forecasts for the year ending March 31, 2019 shown below.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, product demand, competition, regulatory approvals, the effect of economic conditions and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About KYOCERA
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO; TOKYO:6971; https://global.kyocera.com/index.html), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these engineered materials with metals and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of semiconductor packages, industrial and automotive components, electronic devices, solar power generating systems, printers, copiers, and mobile phones. Kyocera appears on the “Top 100 Global Innovators” list by Clarivate Analytics and is ranked #522 on Forbes magazine’s 2017 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.