Record losses for Panasonic
The most serious losses in its history, which began in 1918. That is the conclusion of Fumio Ohtsubo, President and CEO of Panasonic, 66, who is bowing out and will be replaced June 27 by his caddy, Kazuhiro Tsuga, 55, responsible for audio and video products.
Panasonic has just accused a net loss of 772 billion yen (7.47 billion euros) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012. Its sales were down 10%, to 76 billion euros. Like its Japanese counterparts, the Osaka group was affected by the disasters in Japan and Thailand in a year. The earthquake has affected its production for several months in the Archipelago, where Panasonic gets most of its revenue (57%). And floods in the ancient kingdom of Siam have blocked the production of electronic assemblies.
In addition, Panasonic, fourth global manufacturer of televisions, suffered from the continuous breakthrough of two world champions, the South Korean Samsung and LG. In a global market of TVs fell by 0.3% to 247.7 million units in 2011, according to research firm DisplaySearch, sales of Panasonic declined 19% in the last quarter of 2011, slower than those of Sony (- 34%) and Sharp (- 30%) faxless cash advances.
For the fiscal year just beginning, televisions remain in deficit. Panasonic, which has invested in a technology in decline, plasma televisions, expects a further decline in sales to 15.5 million units this year against 17 million units for the previous year.
But saving measures initiated last year with the elimination of 17,000 jobs worldwide, should bear fruit. Panasonic intends to reinvent itself in solar panels, batteries for electric vehicles (bicycle, motorcycle and car) and systems to optimize the management of energy consumption of households. This strategy was accompanied by redesigning the group into eight divisions instead of six earlier this year. The changes should lead Panasonic reconnect with a small net profit this year to 484 million euros.
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