Japanese High-Tech Manufacturers Enjoy Higher Profits But Outlook Mixed

TECH SPACE

Digital cameras and liquid crystal display televisions boosted their sales in Japan in the first half of the fiscal year.

Tokyo (AFP) Oct 28, 2004
Major Japanese electronics makers Thursday posted higher profits in the six months to September but reported mixed forecasts for the year to March on uncertain US economic prospects and high energy costs.

Digital cameras and liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions boosted their sales in the first half of the fiscal year.

Matsushita Electric Industrial, best known for its Panasonic and National brands, said its interim net profit rose 143 percent to 56.2 billion yen (506 million dollars).

Revenue rose 19 percent from a year ago to 4.32 billion yen while pre-tax profit gained 140 percent to 137.3 billion yen.

"An unusually hot summer in Japan, rising demand for digital audio-visual products and consumer demand related to the Athens Olympics contributed to steady sales gains," Matsushita said in a statement.

Rival consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. said its net profit more than doubled to 76.5 billion yen, thanks in part to its popular movie "Spider-Man

But Sony's pre-tax profit fell 12.5 percent to 69.9 billion yen while sales also fell 2.5 percent to 3.31 trillion yen.

Sales of flat-panel and LCD televisions as well as digital cameras increased, although sales of portable audio and cathode-ray tube televisions fell, Sony said.

Japan's top computer maker Fujitsu said its interim net loss shrank to 8.2 billion yen from 58.6 billion yen, thanks to strong demand for system chips, third-generation mobile phone base stations and hard disk drives.

Fujitsu posted a recurring profit of 4.0 billion yen in the six months, reversing a loss of 67.7 billion yen last year. Sales rose 3.6 percent to 2.22 trillion yen.

NEC, another major IT manufacturer, said its interim net profit rose 62.6 percent to 25.2 billion yen, thanks to high demand for broadband and mobile telecommunications infrastructure.

Sharp Corp, Japan's largest LCD panel maker, said interim net profit rose 40.7 percent to a record high of 39.3 billion yen on robust sales of LCD TVs and camera-equipped cellphones.

Recurring profit rose 37.3 percent to 71.7 billion yen as sales grew 14.9 percent to 1.26 trillion yen, both record highs for the six-month period.

Forecasts for the year to March 2005 were mixed but many high-tech firms cited similar concerns.

Sony upgraded its full-year profit forecast but revised downward its sales projection.

Sony chief financial officer Katsumi Ihara pointed to uncertain prospects for US economic growth and Beijing's credit-tightening policy that might slow consumption in China.

"We are also concerned about the high level of oil prices and how it might affect the economy and prices of raw materials," he added.

Matsushita left its forecast for the year to March 2005 unchanged, citing worries for "slower economic growth in Japan and the United States, ever intensifying global price competition, and rising oil prices."

Fujitsu also left its net profit forecast unchanged but shed its sales estimate.

"Although market uncertainties and price competition make it difficult to achieve substantial sales growth in the current environment, we are determined to continue to drive down costs to achieve solid bottom-line performance," Fujitsu President Hiroaki Kurokawa said in a statement.

NEC downgraded its forecasts, citing slower mobile handset and semiconductor markets.

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MISSILE DEFENSE

Analysis: A New Era Of Defense For Japan

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 20, 2004
In the aftermath of World War II, Japan pledged to forever renounce war, writing into the Constitution a prohibition against maintaining any military forces or other war-making potential. In the post-9/ll era, however, members of the Japanese Parliament now say that an amendment allowing the formation of armed forces is both critical and inevitable.

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