| 虧損嚴重的夏普，似乎已到了走頭無路的境地。儘管先前已獲得銀行團的金援，但仍彌補不了鉅額的虧損。原本與鴻海談定的投資計劃，目前看來也已破局如今恐怕只得向日本政府求救，才能挽救公司的營運。
根據上週的財報，夏普預估今年淨虧損將高達56億美元，此外，25億美元可轉換債券即將於2013年到期。根據彭博社
（Bloomberg）11月4日最新報導，夏普很有可能遵循兩年前日本航空的模式，向日本政府的企業再生支援機構（Enterprise
Turnaround Initiative Corp., ETIC）或是日本產業革新機構（Innovation Network Corp. of
Japan, INCJ）提出紓困要求。
2010年，負債超過2兆日圓的日本航空宣佈破產保護，當時企業再生支援機構投入3,500億日圓，進行大規模企業重組，包括裁員與裁撤虧損航線，並請到稻盛和夫出任董事長。第二年便轉虧為盈，今年9月，日本航空再度重新上市。 如今，夏普恐將步上日本航空的後塵，得靠政府出手相救。然而，夏普能否如日本航空一般地幸運，順利轉虧為盈？情況似乎不太樂觀。日本證券分析師安田 秀樹（HidekiYasuda）表示，夏普的危機根源於日本消費電子產業的問題：由於電視需求下滑，再加上日圓升值影響，使得夏普、索尼與松下等電子大 廠，紛紛爆出鉅額虧損；但另一方面，無法及時推出足以匹敵三星與蘋果的當紅產品，更是導致日本電子大廠在全球市場上節節敗退的主因。因此，即使是政府提供 紓困，也難以扭轉夏普的命運。（吳凱琳編譯） 【新聞來源】http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-04/sharp-seen-seeking-government-bailout-after-record-loss-forecast.html 
People ride an escalator past a Panasonic advertisement in Tokyo.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
In earnings presentations
this week by Panasonic and Sharp, which together forecast $15.2bn of
net losses for the year, the profit-squeezing effects of the currency's
prolonged appreciation were barely mentioned. Instead, investors were
treated to a reckoning for past strategic mistakes, in the form of
billions of dollars in investment write-offs. "I am truly sorry," said
Takashi Okuda, Sharp's president since June.
For years, Japanese consumer electronics groups have been investing both too little and too much.
In the 1980s, when the
Japanese were beating up on formerly dominant US manufacturers,
Americans marvelled at how much money they devoted to research and
development and building newer, better factories, taking it as an object
lesson in the value of long-term thinking.
But now it is Japan that
is being outspent. Since 2000, South Korea's Samsung -- now the world's
biggest electronics company by sales -- has allocated an average of 12
per cent of sales to capital investment, about double the ratio at
Panasonic, Sony and Sharp.
When the Japanese have
invested, it has often been in the wrong areas -- products such as
flatscreen TVs and solar panels, which foreign rivals can make just as
well at less cost.
Sharp, a century-old
company that started out making mechanical pencils, is the most troubled
of Japan's big consumer electronics groups. The Y450bn ($5.6bn) net
loss it projected this week would be its second record deficit in two
years, and last year its ratio of net debt to earnings before interest,
taxes and other deductions more than doubled, from 1.7 times to 4.4
times.
On Friday Standard &
Poor's slashed its credit rating for Panasonic's long-term debt by two
levels, from A- to BBB, while Fitch downgraded Sharp's credit rating to
B-. Fitch said it "does not foresee any meaningful operational
turnaround in [Sharp's] core business over the short- to medium-term".
Sharp is trying to turn its focus from TVs and solar panels to small LCD displays for smartphones and tablet computers
Sharp was granted
temporary relief in September when it secured Y360bn in emergency loans
from its Japanese banks, which analysts say should give it sufficient
operating funds until at least next June, when the loans come due.
Negotiations with Hon Hai of Taiwan over a Y67bn investment, tentatively
agreed in March, have stalled, and the company is furiously trying to
free up cash on its own -- by cutting jobs and wages, selling overseas
factories and mortgaging offices in Japan.
None of this is a
long-term solution, however. Sharp is trying to turn its focus from TVs
and solar panels to small LCD displays for smartphones and tablet
computers, but even there it has experienced production delays and is
losing ground to rivals, says Toshihiro Uomoto, a credit analyst at
Nomura. "Sharp's problems go beyond just temporary funding issues, and
extend to doubts over the sustainability of its business."
At Panasonic, most of
this week's Y765bn net-loss forecast was owed to write-offs of tax
credits and past investments. Revenues are also falling, however: it cut
its annual sales forecast by 10 per cent, to Y7.3tn, and its projection
for operating profit by nearly half to Y140bn.
Takashi Watanabe, an
analyst at Goldman Sachs, says Japan's biggest consumer electronics
company has enough profitable businesses that eliminating or shrinking
the dud ones could turn it round.
Kazuhiro Tsuga,
Panasonic's new president, has declared that each division will be
judged on its own earnings power -- a change at what has long been a
collectively minded company. Sceptics, though, will note that the
company, which has 320,000 workers, has been through several big
restructurings before, without hitting on conclusive profit formula.
Sony bucked the trend
this week by sticking with its forecast for a narrow profit for the
financial year to March, in spite of a Y15bn net loss in the quarter to
September, blamed on restructuring costs.
Like Panasonic and
Sharp, Sony is shrinking its TV-making business, and says it will focus
on imaging technology, video games and smartphones, an area it has
strengthened since buying out Ericsson's share of their mobile phone
joint venture last year.
Shiro Mikoshiba, an
equities analyst at Nomura, says the smartphone push looks promising on
its own, but could be risky for a company that makes digital cameras,
game consoles, portable music players and notebook computers -- all
products that multipurpose smartphones are increasingly replacing.
"We see a strong possibility of a vicious cycle in the company's product strategy," Mr Mikoshiba says.
4 on Japan nuclear plant safety government team took utility and industry money Fox News TOKYO – Members of a Japanese government team assigned to set reactor safety measures received funding from utility companies or atomic industry manufacturers, raising questions about the experts' neutrality in the wake of last year's tsunami-triggered ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| ||
| Japan Regulators Seek Fresh Fine Against Japan Advisory Wall Street Journal TOKYO--Japanese regulators on Friday sought a fresh fine against Tokyo-based investment adviserJapan Advisory for allegedly trading on information gleaned from a research report compiled by Nomura Holdings Inc. The case is the latest in Japan's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan denounces alleged assault by US serviceman in Okinawa Fox News The 24-year-old serviceman stationed at the Kadena base on the southern Japanese island had been drinking at a bar Thursday night before he wandered upstairs to an apartment in the same building, police said. After allegedly hitting the teenager, the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Experts inspect Japan's only working nuclear plant over fault line to ... Washington Post TOKYO — Japanese nuclear regulators inspected ground structures at the country's only operating nuclear power plant Friday to examine if an existing fault line is active. The inspection will determine whether the Ohi plant in western Japan should close. See all stories on this topic » | ||
| ||
| Japan nuclear safety team took utility money KSWT-TV TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese nuclear watchdog says members of a government team assigned to set reactor safety measures received funding from utility companies or atomic industry manufacturers. Taking the money was legal but raises questions of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Lifelong Scholar of the Japanese Becomes One of Them New York Times The gesture won Dr. Keene, already a prominent figure in Japanese literary and intellectual circles, a status approaching that of folk hero, making him the subject of endless celebratory newspaper articles, television documentaries and even displays in ... See all stories on this topic » |
MANAGEMENT Panasonic Posts $8.8 Billion Loss
Japan's
Panasonic posted a quarterly net loss of $8.77 billion on restructuring
charges, and its president, calling the once-mighty electronics giant
part of the industry's "loser group," said it must shrink.
ASIA BUSINESS Sharp Says Its Future Is at Risk
Sharp
posted a $3.12 billion loss and said it had doubts about remaining a
"going concern," another sign of the problems gripping Japan's
consumer-electronics makers. Sony also reported a loss.
| ||
| Japan protests another US troop-related incident Houston Chronicle TOKYO (AP) — A U.S. airman is suspected of assaulting a young boy Friday on the southernJapanese island of Okinawa, authorities said. The incident comes just two weeks after a curfew was imposed on all 52,000 U.S. troops in Japan after the arrest of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| ||
| Japan Advisory hit with another insider trading charge Reuters TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's securities watchdog recommended on Friday Japan Advisory be fined $1,500 for insider trading, the second penalty against the Tokyo hedge fund at the center of an industry-wide crackdown on insider dealings ahead of public ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UPDATE 2-Japan automakers China slump accelerates on islands row Reuters Island row fallout still weighs on sales. * Hopes for early 2013 recovery too optimistic - analyst. * Nissan China Oct sales fall 41 pct. * South Korea's Hyundai sales up 37 pct in Oct vs yr earlier (Adds analyst comments). By Fang Yan and Kazunori ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan Stocks Rise Third Day on US Jobs, Weaker Yen Businessweek Japanese stocks rose for a third day as the yen weakened and reports on U.S. employment, manufacturing and consumer confidence signaled improvement in the world's largest economy. Bridgestone Corp. (5108), a tiremaker that counts the Americas as its ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Clinton Warned of Military Danger in China-Japan Dispute Businessweek The festering dispute between China and Japan over five uninhabited islands could spin out of control unless the countries improve their communication with each other, according to a confidential report submitted to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Shin, Uehara share lead in Japan Fox News Mie, Japan – Jiyai Shin and Ayako Uehara both shot 4-under 68 on Friday to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the Mizuno Classic. Shin, who claimed her second Women's British Open title earlier this year, is a 10-time winner on the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan May Have Entered Recessionary Phase, Some BOJ Members Say Businessweek Economists at Nomura Securities Co. and Citigroup Inc. (C) revised down their forecasts for Japan'sthird-quarter gross domestic product after industrial production fell the steepest in September since last year's earthquake. The Bank of Japan (8301 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan's parties seek to end playing chicken on fiscal cliff edge Reuters TOKYO Nov 2 (Reuters) - Japan looks poised to avoid falling off its own version of a 'fiscal cliff' after the main opposition party signalled it will no longer hold a critical deficit financing bill hostage to its push for an early election. The ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan's Nuclear Watchdog To Study Seam Beneath Ohi Plant RTT News Japan's nuclear watchdog is set to conduct an on-location survey at the country's only online nuclear power plant on Friday to determine whether a seam running under the Ohi plant is an active earthquake fault. There is a 900-meter-long underground ... See all stories on this topic » |
沒有留言:
張貼留言