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(Update) Sharp to Log Record Net Loss of Nearly 400 B. Yen [Jiji Press English News Service](Jiji Press English News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Osaka, April 10 (Jiji Press)--Sharp Corp. is now expected to report a record group net loss of nearly 400 billion yen for fiscal 2011, which ended in March, due mainly to a slump at its division handling its mainstay liquid crystal display television sets, informed sources said Tuesday. The figure would be far worse than the major Japanese electronics maker's 290-billion-yen net loss projection announced in early February. Sharp is also suffering sluggish solar panel operations. In fiscal 2010, Sharp posted a consolidated net profit of 19,401 million yen. The Japanese electronics industry has been reeling under a tough business environment due chiefly to slumping TV businesses. Sony Corp. is reportedly planning to slash 10,000 jobs at home and abroad, or some 6 pct of its global workforce, by the end of this year as the company is seen to have incurred a group net loss for the fourth straight year in fiscal 2011. In an effort for its turnaround, Sharp aims to improve the competitiveness of its products, reduce its LCD panel inventories and strengthen its financial base through a capital and business tie- up with Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., informed sources said. As part of the alliance, Sharp is considering selling to Hon Hai a 46.5 pct equity stake in Sharp Display Products Corp., a subsidiary that runs a major LCD panel plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, the sources said. Sharp, which currently owns about 93 pct of Sharp Display Products, is also mulling selling some of its shareholdings in the subsidiary to Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Toppan Printing Co. , the sources said. Hon Hai, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronic products, would become the top shareholder of Sharp Display Products if Sharp decides to sell stakes to the printing companies, the sources said.END (c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |