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On Tuesday, Mitsubishi, Matsushita, Sanyo and Sharp all reported profitable quarters and Toshiba and Hitachi announced reduced losses.
Toshiba, Japan's largest chipmaker, said that it halved its group net loss, thanks to restructuring and a recovery in its electronic-devices operations. And its recovery continues, Toshiba said, but at a sluggish pace because of reduced capital investment in Japan and the US. In the first quarter ended 30 June, Toshiba's net loss was YEN18.80 billion, compared with a YEN33 billion loss for the same quarter last year. Sales rose by 2 percent to YEN1.2 trillion.
Meanwhile, Hitachi narrowed its group net loss by 76 percent to YEN8.01 billion from a YEN33.96 billion loss a year earlier. Group sales eased 4 percent to YEN1.865 trillion. Hitachi said the improvement was because of cost cuts made through large-scale restructuring and improved demand for information equipment and electronic devices. The company held on to its current full-year outlook of a group net profit of YEN60 billion and revenue of YEN8.1 trillion,
Hitachi's electronic-devices category performed especially well, regaining profitability, and posted an operating profit of YEN2.36 billion from a year-earlier YEN18.79 billion loss. Unloading and shutting down unprofitable operations, as well as a recovery in liquid-crystal display (LCD) prices, helped the firm's earning. The firm also credited the improved figures to signs of recovery in the US and Asian economies, but cautioned that "uncertainty in the global economic environment increased as the US stock market softened."
Mitsubishi, Japan's fourth largest chipmaker, reported a group net profit of YEN857 million (EUR7.4 million) in the last quarter, compared with a year earlier loss of YEN11.10 billion, despite the fact that revenue fell 15 percent to YEN727 billion. The improvement has been attributed to cost cutting, restructuring and an improved performance of its industrial machinery and equipment business.
The firm also held steady in its full-year outlook for a group net profit of YEN25 billion on revenue of YEN3.7 trillion. Like Hitachi however, the company warned of potential derailments ahead. "Things seem less certain with the dollar falling and US share prices falling," said Yukihiro Sato, corporate vice president at Mitsubishi Electric Corp,
Matsushita, which controls the Panasonic brand and is the world's second biggest consumer electronics maker, returned to profitability as consumers bought more Panasonic-brand DVD recorders, wall-mounted televisions and appliances, the company said. Matsushita reported a group net income of YEN4.3 billion, in the three months ended 30 June, compared with a loss of YEN19.4 billion, in the same period last year. Sales rose 5 percent to YEN1.76 trillion.
Sanyo posted net income of YEN3.59 billion for the quarter ending 30 June, compared with YEN3.98 billion a year ago. Sales rose 1.1 percent to YEN507.6 billion from YEN502.1 billion a year ago. The company's first quarter pre-tax profit increased 26 percent to YEN8.64 billion from YEN6.87 billion yen in the same quarter last year.
Finally, Sharp, the biggest liquid crystal display maker in Japan, posted a first quarter operating profit of YEN25.8 billion in the three months ended 30 June. Sales rose 10 percent to YEN477.3 billion. Prices of large liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) have risen because demand has risen from the makers of desktop and notebook personal computers. Sharp has benefited from higher prices since late 2001 after they almost halved last year, the firm said.
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