Little sign of industrial recovery from Fanuc Ltd: the Japanese robotics and machine tool controls manufacturer has downgraded its forecast for unconsolidated profits for its fiscal year, saying that orders from industrial machinery manufacturers fell in the first half, and that it expects to report a 9% decline in net profit for the period on sales also down 9%; sales are expected to be flat with the first half for the rest of the fiscal, but costs will be higher; to some extent, the company’s experience can be seen as a lead indicator because companies order controls from Fanuc long before they ship equipment to the final customer.
