Nippon Steel posts $1.3 billion Q1 loss

TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Nippon Steel 5401.T, Japan's biggest steelmaker, posted 195.83 billion yen ($1.30 billion) in losses for the three months to June 30, it said on Friday, wider than analysts' expectations.

An LSEG poll of analysts had expected Nippon Steel to post 25.7 billion yen in quarterly losses. A year earlier, Nippon Steel saw a quarterly net profit of 157.56 billion yen.

For the fiscal year as a whole, Nippon Steel forecasts a loss of 40 billion yen, it said.

In June, Nippon Steel closed its $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel X.MX after an 18-month struggle to obtain U.S. government approval for the deal, which faced scrutiny due to national security concerns.

($1 = 150.5800 yen)