Nippon Steel sees US Steel acquisition pay off, projects 180b yen profit boost

The financial benefits of Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel are set to show up in earnest in the company's earnings, the Nikkei reported Wednesday.

Nippon Steel on Tuesday forecast net profit of 290 billion yen ($1.84 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2027 — roughly 17 times the previous year's figure. The projection is an upward revision of 70 billion yen from its earlier guidance.

Of that total, the company expects US Steel — whose acquisition it completed last June — to contribute 180 billion yen on its own.

The Nikkei said US Steel is poised to become the key driver of Nippon Steel's earnings recovery amid slowing domestic steel demand in Japan.

Nippon Steel also reported consolidated sales of 2.82 trillion yen for the April–June quarter, up 40 percent from a year earlier. Net profit came in at 75.2 billion yen, returning the company to the black.

The company had posted a loss in the same period last year due to costs related to the US Steel acquisition, but US Steel contributed to the profit turnaround this quarter, the Nikkei said.

Nippon Steel began consolidating US Steel's results into its financial statements from the third quarter of last year (July–September), but this marks the first time US Steel has turned a profit under its ownership.

The improvement reflects cost reductions driven by Nippon Steel specialists dispatched to US Steel, as well as a favorable US steel market in which tariffs have made it harder for cheaper foreign products to enter.