Sony Corp., Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. all said last week that they now forecast hundreds of billions of yen in net losses for the current fiscal year through March. Toshiba Corp.'s outlook was much brighter: It only expects net profit to tumble 53%.
But Hitachi Ltd. stood out from its peers: In an industry wracked by overcapacity, the strong yen and cheaper competition it didn't cut its net profit outlook, sticking to a forecast of Y200 billion this fiscal year, which would be a 16% drop from a year earlier.
It wasn't always like this. In the wake of the global financial crisis, Hitachi, whose operations span everything from consumer electronics to electric power infrastructure, posted an eye-popping Y787.34 billion net loss for the fiscal year through March 2009 - over $10 billion at current exchange rates and the biggest loss ever reported by a Japanese manufacturer. (If Panasonic's loss forecast of Y780 billion for this fiscal year proves accurate, it would be the second biggest after Hitachi's 2009 figure.) (Wall Street Journal)
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