http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2009/03/12/2003438225
Seiko Epson to see record-high loss on restructuring costs
Seiko
Epson Corp, Japan’s largest maker of inkjet printers, widened its
full-year loss forecast to a record because of costs to reorganize its
flat-panel and semiconductor operations.
The net loss will reach 100
billion (US$1 billion) in the year ending March 31, wider than the ?4
billion projected last month, the company said yesterday.Seiko Epson
will book a one-time charge of ?90 billion, including ?66.2 billion in
restructuring costs at the electronic-device business, which includes
chips as well as small panels for mobile phones.Seiko Epson is cutting
back its semiconductor and liquid- crystal-display (LCD) operations and
focusing on printers and projectors to help weather slumping demand as
the global recession erodes demand for electronics.
Suwa,
central Japan-based Seiko Epson said the reorganization would bolster
profit by 11 billion next fiscal year, helping it break even.No
full-time jobs will be cut under the reorganization, general managing
director Kenji Kubota said at a briefing in Tokyo. Seiko Epson had
93,279 employees as of Sept. 30, its Web site said.The company will
close its flat-panel factory in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, and
focus output of the devices at its facility in Tottori Prefecture, in
the west of the country.
Seiko Epson will also shut its
semiconductor-production line at a plant in Nagano, central Japan,
relocating output to a factory in Yamagata, northern Japan. The Nagano
factory will be closed within three years, spokesman Jun Tezuka said
earlier yesterday.The printer maker cut its full-year dividend by 32
percent to ?26 per share. It paid ?32 a year earlier.The net loss would
be the biggest since the company was formed through the merger of Suwa
Seikosha Co and Epson Corp in November 1985.The company maintained its
forecast for operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold
and administrative expenses, of ?6 billion and sales of 1.14
trillion.Seiko Epson rose 8 percent to close at 1,088 on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange before the announcement.