TOKYO -- Two of Japan's largest rail operators now expect to report their largest full-year net losses since their 1987 privatization, as the coronavirus pandemic brings a deep and potentially long-lasting slump in passenger traffic.
East Japan Railway on Wednesday released annual earnings projections showing a 418 billion yen ($3.96 billion) loss for fiscal 2020, compared with a 198.4 billion yen profit in fiscal 2019. West Japan Railway's estimate, announced the same day, shows a 240 billion yen loss, after an 89.3 billion yen profit the previous year. Both projections came in well below the average forecasts in a QUICK consensus survey of analysts.
