(Corrects to show consensus figure was an average of estimates not the median)
* Q4 recurring profit Y24.3 bln, down from Y73.6 bln yr ago
* JFE does not give guidance for 2011/12 earnings
* Average analyst f'cast sees 2011/12 profit at Y113 bln vs Y165.8 bln yr ago (Recasts on quarterly profit, adds detail)
TOKYO, April 21 (Reuters) - JFE Holdings Inc , the world's No.5 steelmaker, on Thursday booked a 67 percent fall in quarterly profit after a devastating earthquake curtailed its shipments, and it did not provide guidance for the current financial year.
Japanese steelmakers were largely unscathed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but automakers, their biggest clients, have been forced to cut output after the disaster devastated their parts supply chains and triggered a nuclear crisis.
JFE and its bigger rival Nippon Steel are expected to see sharp falls in profit in the year to March 2012, unable to win big enough price hikes from struggling carmakers and other clients to offset higher input costs.
The average estimate of five analysts who issued forecasts after the earthquake is for a recurring profit of 113 billion yen for the 2011/12 year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Estimates ranged from 50 billion yen to 164 billion yen.
JFE booked 165.8 billion yen in recurring profit for the year ended last month, more than double a year earlier. In the January-March quarter, it had a profit of 24.3 billion yen, against a 73.6 bln yen profit in the same quarter a year ago.
JFE, which competes with South Korea's POSCO China's Baosteel and Nippon Steel, booked a 28.4 billion yen extraordinary loss due to damage to its plants from the quake, which reduced its 2010/11 net profit to 58.6 billion yen, although that was up from 45.66 billion yen a year ago.
Shares in JFE rose 3.4 percent after the results, outperforming a 1.1 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei average . (Reporting by Yuko Inoue; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Nathan Layne)