Cosmetics maker Shiseido has said it expects to post a record group net loss of ?52 billion in the year ending in December, due mainly to falling inbound demand and a slump in U.S. operations.

The company¡¯s previous net balance forecast for the current business year stood at ?6 billion in profit.

It now expects to log a net loss for the second straight year. In 2024, Shiseido incurred a consolidated net loss of about ?10.8 billion.

Shiseido also said Monday that about 200 jobs at the company and a subsidiary will be shed through a voluntary redundancy program, with applications to be accepted from Dec. 8 through Dec. 26. Costs related to the program, including additional retirement allowances, will total around ?3 billion.

In 2024, Shiseido cut about 1,500 jobs at a key unit through a voluntary retirement program. Earlier this year, about 300 employees were shed at a U.S. subsidiary.

Shiseido also revised down its 2025 group operating balance forecast to a loss of ?42 billion from a profit of ?13.5 billion, and the sales projection to ?965 billion from ?995 billion.

In the United States, sales of Shiseido¡¯s Drunk Elephant brand skin care products are slumping. The company expects to book ?46.8 billion in impairment loss related to its operations in the Americas.

At a news conference in Tokyo on Monday, Shiseido President Kentaro Fujiwara said that he seriously takes the expected record consolidated net loss.

Still, he said, ¡°We are now set to complete structural reforms,¡± adding that the company will focus on measures for promoting growth going forward.

For January-September, Shiseido reported a group net loss of ?43.9 billion, compared with the year-before net profit of ?754 million, an operating loss of ?33.3 billion, against a profit of ?2.1 billion, and sales of ?693.8 billion, down 4.0% year on year.

Behind the disappointing results for the first three quarters of the current year were slowing consumption in China and the weakness in U.S. operations.