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Sony shock again? Slump may mean operating loss
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Sony shock again? Slump may mean operating loss
By YURI KAGEYAMA,AP Business Writer AP - 2 hours 7 minutes ago
TOKYO - Sony is sinking into its first yearly operating loss in 14 years as sales for digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and other gadgets took a hammering from the global recession and a soaring yen, analysts said Tuesday.
Sony's U.S. shares fell more than 4 percent in early afternoon trading Tuesday. Shares slid nearly 9 percent in Tokyo and helped drag down the Japanese stock market overall.
Japan's top business daily, The Nikkei, reported that Sony was expected to rack up a 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) operating loss for the fiscal year ending in March. The newspaper said operating losses _ which reflect the company's core business operations _ could balloon to as much as twice that.
Behind Sony's dismal forecast are faltering sales in electronics, especially in the key U.S. and European markets.
Kazuharu Miura, analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research, expects Sony to tumble into a 110 billion yen ($1.2 billion) operating loss for the fiscal year.
Tokyo-based Sony Corp. declined comment. Earnings for the fiscal third quarter, which ended in December, are expected on Jan. 29.
Sony's downturn highlights the pain even Japan's premier brands are suffering amid the global slowdown. Barely a month ago, Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's top automaker, said it was expecting its first annual operating loss in 70 years.
The U.S. financial meltdown has crushed spending on flat-panel TVs and other gadgets _ Sony's mainstays. The credit crunch and consumer worries hit right ahead of the critical year-end holiday shopping season.
The strong yen hasn't helped. While the dollar bought about 113 yen a year ago, it now gets about 90, meaning Sony's exports are more expensive. Sony is particularly vulnerable to the strong yen because about 80 percent of its sales are overseas.
The last time _ and only time _ Sony racked up an operating loss, for fiscal 1995, the red ink came from one-time losses in its movie division, marred by box office flops and lax cost controls.
At that time, its core electronics unit was still booming.
Sony, once considered an innovator with its Walkman portable player and PlayStation video game machine, has seen its brand power gradually diminish in the face of rivals such as Apple Inc., maker of the popular iPod digital player.
Past troubles in Sony's electronics business had been offset by gains in other divisions, such as video games and its once-thriving insurance and banking divisions in Japan. But now, it is seeing slumps across the board. Video games have struggled to boost profits, and the financial branches have been hit hard by the global credit crunch.
"In that sense, Sony is in an extremely tough situation this time," Miura told The Associated Press.
Drastic job cuts and reduction in research spending would be needed to wrest Sony out of its latest troubles, he said.
Other analysts echoed similar sentiments, noting the expected red ink from Sony's digital cameras and other products because of falls in both sales and prices.
Sony has already taken some dramatic steps. Last month, the company said it would slash 8,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its work force, lower spending and shut plants.
Until the U.S. financial crisis, Sony had been on a recovery track following a cost-cutting overhaul under Chief Executive Howard Stringer, a Welsh-born American, who became the first non-Japanese to head Sony in 2005.
That restructuring phase included pulling the plug on Sony's robotics division, selling off assets, ending the Qualia line of fancy gadgets and withdrawing from plasma displays.
Stringer's appointment came after a series of faltering profit reports that culminated in the "Sony shock" of 2003, when the company's shares plunged.
Sony President Ryoji Chubachi has expressed dismay at the U.S. slowdown, but he also expressed hopes that the global economy would start to recover later this year.
"We need to rely more on other regions and not depend so much on the U.S.," he told reporters at a recent reception for executives.
Instead, the potential for growth in East Asia, with its appetite for Sony goods, could help reverse Sony's fate, Chubachi said.
In October, Sony said it expected fiscal 2009 operating profit of 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion), down from the 470 billion yen guidance it gave in July. It is expecting 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) net profit, which includes taxes and extraordinary items.
Sony's U.S. shares fell 94 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $22.16 in early afternoon trading. It slid 8.9 percent to 2,000 yen ($22.40) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The news helped drag down the Japanese stock market, where the Nikkei index tumbled 4.8 percent.
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