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.