It is only now, almost six months after the Tohoku earthquake, that the scale of the damage to Japan Inc can be properly assessed. The big companies have made reasonably robust recoveries – even those with exposure to facilities washed away by the tsunami. It is the smallest businesses that are hurting. On Friday, the ministry of finance published its regular tally of corporations’ financial statements, covering the period from April to June. While those with capital of at least Y1bn (US$13m) saw ordinary profits drop by almost 4 per cent, year-on-year, those with capital between Y10m and Y100m suffered a 40 per cent fall.
直到日本东北地区地震发生将近6个月后的今天，我们才得以较为准确地评估日本的受损程度。日本大企业实现了较为强劲的恢复，就连那些有生产设施被海啸冲走的大企业也是如此。痛苦的是小企业。上周五，日本财务省发布了它编制的日本企业财务状况定期报告，介绍了今年4月至6月的情况：资本规模在10亿日元（合1300万美元）及以上的企业，经常利润（ordinary profit，营业利润加利息和营业外收益）同比下降将近4%；而资本规模在1000万至1亿日元的企业，经常利润同比大幅下降40%。