Many Upgraded Corp. Earnings For 1H

The relatively large number of companies have upgraded their pretax earnings estimate for the first half ended September suggests that corporate performances are gradually recovering, according to a Nikkei survey. Of the 2,380 firms polled, 522 upgraded their earnings estimates for the period as of Saturday, while 349 firms made downgrades. Companies will start announcing their first-half results in earnest this week. The survey covered listed nonfinancial firms that end their fiscal years in March and have not yet announced their half-year results. About 40% of the firms that made upward revisions said their sales will either match or fall below their earlier expectation, indicating that many of them squeezed out profits as a result of restrcturing.