Chugai Pharmaceutical led decliners of the Nikkei 225 stocks with a drop of 17.60% followed by losses of 13.83% in Chiyoda Corporation, of 7.92% in Nippon Soda Company, of 3.23% in Aeon Company Limited, and of 2.46% in Dowa Holdings.

Chugai Pharmaceuticals fell after reporting yesterday profit for the year will decline as the cut in pharmaceutical prices ordered by the government and shrinking sales of Tamiflu and Epogin took their toll on earnings.

Sales of Tamiflu and Epogin are forecasted to drop 81% to 7.3 billion yen and 14% to 47billion yen correspondingly.

Seiko Epsom reported on its website today that net sales in the nine months to December 2007 is estimated to rise 3.4% from a year ago to 1.037 trillion yen, while net income increased 59.5% to 22.2 billion yen in the same period from a year ago.

The company also reported that demand in the inkjet market was flat as growth in Europe and Asia offset contraction in Japan and the U.S, adding that demand for 3G phones is also robust in Europe and North America.

Canon reported that net income for the year will rise 6.5% to 520 billion yen, below the 531.5 billion yen forecasted by economists.

In addition the company also said annual sales are expected to slump the most since 1999. Canon closed down 2.35%.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines reported today that profit for the quarter to December 31 climbed from 39.8 billion yen to 58.9 billion yen. The company also raised its full year net income projection to 190 billion yen for the year ending March 2008 from 185 billion yen that the company had previously forecasted.