TOKYO (AFP) ― Panasonic and Sharp racked up more than $11 billion in combined losses over the nine months to December as the embattled Japanese electronics giants warned Friday there was more bleeding to come.
Japan’s battered electronics sector has suffered from myriad problems including a high yen, slowing demand for key export markets, fierce overseas competition and strategic mistakes that left companies’ finances in ruins.
Industry giants Sharp, Panasonic and Sony have been hammered by credit rating downgrades and record losses, while century-old Sharp warned about its own survival last year and put up its Osaka headquarters as collateral for bank loans it needed to stay afloat.
On Friday, the maker of Aquos-brand electronics said its doubled its loss in the nine months to December to $4.6 billion, while Panasonic said it lost about $6.77 billion over the same period, and was on track to lose a whopping $8.3 billion over the fiscal year to March.
But Sharp insisted its massive corporate overhaul, including thousands of jobs cuts, would keep it from going under.
“We believe that these conditions will not cast a material uncertainty about Sharp’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it said in its earnings statement.
The company also offered a glimmer of hope, as it eked out a small 2.6 billion yen operating profit in the third quarter, although it still posted a net loss of 424.35 billion yen from January to December.
It also left unchanged its full-year 450 billion yen net loss forecast.
For its part, Panasonic said it logged a nine-month operating profit of 121.95 billion yen, saying the positive result was due “mainly to fixed cost reductions and streamlining material costs.”
Weak demand for flat-panel televisions helped pushed total sales down 8.8 percent to 5.44 trillion yen, it added.
Japan’s battered electronics sector has suffered from myriad problems including a high yen, slowing demand for key export markets, fierce overseas competition and strategic mistakes that left companies’ finances in ruins.
Industry giants Sharp, Panasonic and Sony have been hammered by credit rating downgrades and record losses, while century-old Sharp warned about its own survival last year and put up its Osaka headquarters as collateral for bank loans it needed to stay afloat.
On Friday, the maker of Aquos-brand electronics said its doubled its loss in the nine months to December to $4.6 billion, while Panasonic said it lost about $6.77 billion over the same period, and was on track to lose a whopping $8.3 billion over the fiscal year to March.
But Sharp insisted its massive corporate overhaul, including thousands of jobs cuts, would keep it from going under.
“We believe that these conditions will not cast a material uncertainty about Sharp’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it said in its earnings statement.
The company also offered a glimmer of hope, as it eked out a small 2.6 billion yen operating profit in the third quarter, although it still posted a net loss of 424.35 billion yen from January to December.
It also left unchanged its full-year 450 billion yen net loss forecast.
For its part, Panasonic said it logged a nine-month operating profit of 121.95 billion yen, saying the positive result was due “mainly to fixed cost reductions and streamlining material costs.”
Weak demand for flat-panel televisions helped pushed total sales down 8.8 percent to 5.44 trillion yen, it added.
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