Major Japanese electronics makers pare 1st qtr losses on cost cuts+

TOKYO, July 30 Kyodo -
Major Japanese electronics makers including Sony Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. said
Thursday they were able to report smaller-than-expected losses for the
April-June quarter as aggressive cost-cutting measures began to bear fruit
despite a continued decline in demand caused by the economic downturn.

While most of the companies sharply narrowed their losses compared with earlier
this year, only Fujitsu raised its full-year earnings forecast as the companies
remained cautious about the uncertain outlook for the economy and volatile
foreign exchange rates.
Sony remained in the red for a second consecutive quarter with a group net loss
of 37.09 billion yen due to a stronger yen and weak sales of key products
including PlayStation 3 game consoles, Bravia liquid crystal display
televisions and Vaio personal computers.
But the first-quarter loss was sharply lower than the group net loss of 165.1
billion yen logged during the January to March period as Sony is moving fast to
cut thousands of jobs, reduce suppliers and close manufacturing plants. The
company booked a profit of 34.98 billion yen in the April-June quarter a year
earlier.
Sony maintained its loss forecasts for the whole of fiscal 2009 through next
March, but Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda remained upbeat, saying the
company is aiming to at least break even on an operating level.
Meanwhile, Fujitsu booked a consolidated net loss of 29.20 billion yen for the
current fiscal year's first quarter, partly because competition shifted toward
low-priced personal computers.
But the Japanese information technology services firm raised its full-year
earnings forecasts, citing improvements in market conditions for electronic
components.
Fujitsu is now expecting a net profit of 25 billion yen and an operating profit
of 90 billion for fiscal 2009 against initial projections of 20 billion yen and
80 billion yen, respectively.
Sanyo Electric Co., which fell into the red with a group net loss of 18.40
billion yen, revised upward its outlook for the April to September period on
the back of better-than-expected sales of digital cameras and TVs.
During the six-month period, Sanyo, which plans to become a subsidiary of
Panasonic Corp., is now anticipating an operating loss of 5 billion yen,
compared with an earlier forecast of 20 billion yen, but is sticking to its
full-year projections.
NEC Corp., Sharp Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. narrowed their losses in
the April-June period from the previous quarter but are maintaining their
earnings outlooks for the whole of the business year.
Earlier this week, Hitachi Ltd. said it incurred a group net loss of 82.67
billion yen for the April-June quarter due to lackluster sales of flat-panel
TVs and auto parts.
Toshiba Corp. also said its group net loss expanded to 57.80 billion yen from a
year-earlier loss of 11.61 billion as sales continued to be weak for TVs and
hard disk drives due to sluggish consumer spending.
==Kyodo