Over 300 TSE-Listed Firms Planning Dividend Cuts for FY '08

Tokyo, March 17 (Jiji Press)--More than 300 major Japanese
companies will cut dividend payments for the year to March as their earnings have deteriorated since the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, a Jiji Press survey showed Tuesday.

In the survey, of the 1,372 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange's first section that close their annual books in March, 337 are
planning dividend cuts for the year, according to data compiled by Jiji
Press.
The 337 include 134 firms that are planning to skip annual dividend
payments.
Pioneer Corp. <6773> will skip annual dividend payments as it is
bracing for a record 130-billion-yen group net loss, due to swelling
restructuring costs, while Hitachi Ltd. <6501> will forego term-end dividend
payments as it expects to report a 700-billion-yen group net loss.
The number of listed firms to cut dividends for the year could rise
further because 107 companies, including major steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp.
<5401> and top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. <7203>, have yet to decide
dividend payment plans.
Based on payout plans already submitted, combined payments by the
listed firms are estimated to fall 9.1 pct from the previous year to 5.03
trillion yen.
If the 107 firms still working out dividend plans decide to skip
term-end payments, the combined amount could fall by as much as 17 pct.