TOKYO: Japan's Panasonic Corp said it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs and closing 27 plants worldwide as it braces to fall deep in the red due to the global economic crisis.
The company tumbled to a loss for the fiscal third quarter as a global downturn squelched demand, gadget prices plunged and a strong yen eroded overseas earnings, the Japanese electronics maker said.
Panasonic, the world's largest maker of plasma display TVs, said it expects more red ink for the full year ending March 2009, which would be its first yearly net loss in six years. The company, which had previously forecast a full year profit of 30 billion yen, now expects to rack up losses of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion).
The Osaka-based manufacturer of digital cameras, flat-panel TVs, cell phones and batteries reported a 63.1 billion yen ($709 million) loss for the October-December period. It had posted a 115.2 billion yen profit the same quarter the previous year.
Quarterly sales dropped 20 per cent to 1.880 trillion yen from 2.345 trillion, with overseas sales decreasing 29 per cent, and Japanese sales down 10 per cent.
The company blamed a global slowdown set off by the US financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen and sudden price drops for the dismal results. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors, it said.
“The company's business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever intensified price competition,” Panasonic said in a statement.
The last time Panasonic reported a loss was for the fiscal year ended March 2002, when a global electronics slump and massive restructuring costs
contributed to 431 billion yen in red ink.
Since then, the company has been shedding money-losing businesses and focusing on key products such as plasma display TVs to turn itself around.
The company, formerly named Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, for its founder, also lowered its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, to 7.75 trillion yen from an earlier 8.5 trillion yen.
Japan's other export-reliant electronics makers are also seeing their profitability sorely hurt, including Panasonic's longtime rival Sony Corp.
Sony is forecasting a 150 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March. The last and only time Sony reported a loss -- the fiscal year ending March 1995 -- the red ink came from one-time losses in its movie division, marred by box office flops and lax cost controls.
Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Toshiba Corp are also all forecasting big losses for the fiscal year.
Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/Hardware/Panasonic_cuts_15K_jobs_27_plants_go/articleshow/msid-4074595,curpg-2.cms
The company tumbled to a loss for the fiscal third quarter as a global downturn squelched demand, gadget prices plunged and a strong yen eroded overseas earnings, the Japanese electronics maker said.
Panasonic, the world's largest maker of plasma display TVs, said it expects more red ink for the full year ending March 2009, which would be its first yearly net loss in six years. The company, which had previously forecast a full year profit of 30 billion yen, now expects to rack up losses of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion).
The Osaka-based manufacturer of digital cameras, flat-panel TVs, cell phones and batteries reported a 63.1 billion yen ($709 million) loss for the October-December period. It had posted a 115.2 billion yen profit the same quarter the previous year.
Quarterly sales dropped 20 per cent to 1.880 trillion yen from 2.345 trillion, with overseas sales decreasing 29 per cent, and Japanese sales down 10 per cent.
The company blamed a global slowdown set off by the US financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen and sudden price drops for the dismal results. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors, it said.
“The company's business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever intensified price competition,” Panasonic said in a statement.
The last time Panasonic reported a loss was for the fiscal year ended March 2002, when a global electronics slump and massive restructuring costs
contributed to 431 billion yen in red ink.
Since then, the company has been shedding money-losing businesses and focusing on key products such as plasma display TVs to turn itself around.
The company, formerly named Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, for its founder, also lowered its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, to 7.75 trillion yen from an earlier 8.5 trillion yen.
Japan's other export-reliant electronics makers are also seeing their profitability sorely hurt, including Panasonic's longtime rival Sony Corp.
Sony is forecasting a 150 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March. The last and only time Sony reported a loss -- the fiscal year ending March 1995 -- the red ink came from one-time losses in its movie division, marred by box office flops and lax cost controls.
Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Toshiba Corp are also all forecasting big losses for the fiscal year.
Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/Hardware/Panasonic_cuts_15K_jobs_27_plants_go/articleshow/msid-4074595,curpg-2.cms
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