JAPAN BUSINESS DECLINE SEEN BOTTOMING OUT

  The extended decline in Japan's overall
  business performance was likely to bottom out in the current
  January-March quarter, the Finance Ministry said.
      Improved corporate earnings and better prospects for the
  stability of the yen had made companies more optimistic, it
  said after carrying out a quarterly survey.
      The survey, conducted in February, was based on
  questionnaires returned by 8,328 large and small firms in all
  sectors except the finance and insurance industries.
      The survey said overall corporate earnings were expected to
  turn positive with an estimated 0.4 pct year on year increase
  in the second half of fiscal 1986 ending on March 31 after a
  5.4 pct decrease in the first half.
      Corporate earnings will grow further in the first half of
  fiscal 1987, rising an estimated 10.7 pct, it added.
      Manufacturers' earnings, hit hard by the yen's steady rise
  against the dollar, will rise 7.7 pct in first-half fiscal 1987
  after falling 10.7 pct in the second half of fiscal 1986, it
  said.
      Overall earnings of non-manufacturing companies will rise
  11.8 pct year on year in the first half of fiscal 1987 after
  growing 9.8 pct in the second half of fiscal 1986, the survey
  said.
      It said this figure was bolstered by profits of firms such
  as electric power and gas companies which have benefitted from
  the yen's appreciation.
  

