Panasonic to slip into red, close three plants,
according to report Posted: 28 January 2009 1321 hrs
TOKYO: Japan's Panasonic Corp. plans to close three plants in Asia and axe hundreds of jobs as it braces for a slip into the red for the first time in six years, a report said Wednesday.
The Nikkei economic daily said Panasonic - bruised by falling electronics prices and the yen's rise - is expected to report a group net loss of around 100 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) in the business year to March.
Mounting restructuring costs will also push losses higher, the daily said, without citing its sources.
Nikkei said Panasonic, which has enjoyed brisk sales of plasma televisions, mobile telephones and digital cameras in recent years, will close two of its three electronics parts facilities in Malaysia.
The two are the Malacca factory, which churns out film capacitors used in mobile phones, and a factory in the state of Selangor which makes switches for audiovisual equipment.
Panasonic will close the Malacca plant in March with the loss of 500 jobs, it said. The Selangor plant would shut in September, it added, without saying what would happen to the employees there.
A Philippine facility that produces batteries will also be shut in March, with its 60 employees losing jobs, it said.
Panasonic was not immediately able to confirm the Nikkei report.
The company said it would announce whether it was revising its full-year forecasts on February 4 when it releases October-December results.
In November, it slashed its net-profit forecast for the current financial year by nearly 90 per cent, expecting net earnings of 30 billion yen.
The figure is down from a previous target of 310 billion and the previous year's record high of 281.9 billion yen.
according to report Posted: 28 January 2009 1321 hrs
TOKYO: Japan's Panasonic Corp. plans to close three plants in Asia and axe hundreds of jobs as it braces for a slip into the red for the first time in six years, a report said Wednesday.
The Nikkei economic daily said Panasonic - bruised by falling electronics prices and the yen's rise - is expected to report a group net loss of around 100 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) in the business year to March.
Mounting restructuring costs will also push losses higher, the daily said, without citing its sources.
Nikkei said Panasonic, which has enjoyed brisk sales of plasma televisions, mobile telephones and digital cameras in recent years, will close two of its three electronics parts facilities in Malaysia.
The two are the Malacca factory, which churns out film capacitors used in mobile phones, and a factory in the state of Selangor which makes switches for audiovisual equipment.
Panasonic will close the Malacca plant in March with the loss of 500 jobs, it said. The Selangor plant would shut in September, it added, without saying what would happen to the employees there.
A Philippine facility that produces batteries will also be shut in March, with its 60 employees losing jobs, it said.
Panasonic was not immediately able to confirm the Nikkei report.
The company said it would announce whether it was revising its full-year forecasts on February 4 when it releases October-December results.
In November, it slashed its net-profit forecast for the current financial year by nearly 90 per cent, expecting net earnings of 30 billion yen.
The figure is down from a previous target of 310 billion and the previous year's record high of 281.9 billion yen.
