GS Yuasa Sees Minimal Impact From 787 Battery Woes
GS Yuasa Corp. (6674) does not expect the recent battery problems that have grounded Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner to materially affect group earnings for the current fiscal year, a company director said Tuesday.
"The first priority is to find the cause," Toshiyuki Nakagawa told a news conference in Kyoto. "We are fully cooperating with the authorities' investigations," he added in commenting on a series of problems associated with the company's lithium ion batteries for the 787.
"We don't think there will be any new risk," the director replied when asked about the possibility of being sued by Boeing and others for damages.
Batteries for passenger aircraft "make up small proportions of group sales and profits," he said. "Sales of aircraft batteries generally come in at just a few hundred million yen."
As for automobile batteries, Nakagawa said that there has not been any impact, with carmakers and other clients receiving briefings on the situation as needed.