Ordinary profit for all industries, excluding finance and insurance, saw the biggest rate of decline in 11 years, falling 46.6% in the April-June quarter from a year earlier to 12.41 trillion yen, according to corporate statistics released Tuesday by the Finance Ministry.
In the wake of the 2008 collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, the drop was 53% during the 2009 April-June quarter.
Corporate activity stalled due to the impact of the state of emergency in April and May in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Manufacturing industries were down 48.7%, with transportation equipment (down 76.1%) and food (down 59%) standing out.
Non-manufacturing industries were down 45.5%, with the biggest declines in transport and postal activities (down 162.2%), which includes airlines and railroads, and services (down 53.7%), which includes accommodations and restaurants.
Sales in all industries, excluding finance and insurance, fell 17.7% to 284.68 trillion yen, the second largest decline after the 20.4% drop in the 2009 January-March quarter.
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