Local News

Fukuoka City-based department store Iwata-ya has revised downward its consolidated results forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2009. The new projection shows a loss for the year of 150 million yen. If this loss holds, it would be the department store’s first loss since 1999, a ten-year period. The forecast is based on a downturn in individual consumption caused by the financial crisis, particularly in the store’s mainstay clothing operations.