EPSON 2008 PROFITS PLUNGE 80% !

[Anonymous]

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2286102/
JAPANESE SEIKO EPSON’S PRETAX PROFIT LIKELY PLUNGED 80% IN FY08
TOKYO,
Apr , 2009 — Seiko Epson Corp.  is expected to log a consolidated
pretax profit of about 12 billion yen (US$122.3 million) for the fiscal
year ended March 31, down about 80 per cent due to sluggish demand for
its mainline inkjet printers and other products.The firm is believed to
have booked 68.2 billion yen in structural reform expenses and
impairment losses for its unprofitable operations in small LCD panels
and semiconductors. As a result, the company likely fell into the red
with a net loss of about 100 billion yen.

For the current fiscal
year, Seiko Epson expects that its bottom line will be pushed up by 11
billion yen partly because structural reforms will lead to lower
depreciation charges. In addition, it will cut fixed costs by about 20
billion yen mainly by lowering personnel expenses. Still, pretax profit
may fall to zero due to the slump in demand caused by the economic
downturn.Sales for fiscal 2009 are seen falling below the roughly 1.1
trillion yen projected for fiscal 2008, partly because of downsizing at
its LCD and chip operations. And there are no signs that demand will
recover for the firm’s inkjet printers.The yen is expected to be
stronger this year, and this will hurt the firm’s earnings. Every 1 yen
appreciation of the Japanese currency against the euro erodes the
firm’s profits by about 1.2 billion yen.

[Author]

April 24, 2009 at 12:30 PM