Seiko Epson Q4 profit tumbles, new president tapped http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUST4852720080430 TOKYO,
April 08 Japan’s Seiko Epson Corp posted a 54 percent fall in
quarterly operating profit on Wednesday, hit by sharp price falls in
its ink-jet printers and LCD panels, and forecast a
smaller-than-expected gain this year.
Seiko Epson said that
Managing Director Minoru Usui would become president in June, replacing
Seiji Hanaoka, who will become chairman.Since Hanaoka took the helm in
April 2005, shares in Seiko Epson have lost 29 percent as its
profitability was hurt by struggling small- and medium-sized LCD
display business, while the benchmark Nikkei average .N225 gained 19
percent.
Usui, a 53-year-old engineer, joined the company in
1979 and has led Seiko Epson’s printer development operations.For the
year ending March 2009, Seiko Epson forecast an operating profit of 61
billion yen ($585.8 million), up 6 percent on the year but below a
consensus of 64.8 billion yen in a poll of 14 analysts by Reuters
Estimates.Seiko Epson, which competes with Canon Inc in printers and
Sharp Corp in small LCD displays, said it plans to consolidate its
three LCD manufacturing plants in Japan into one to turn around its
display panel business.The company posted an operating profit of 1.87
billion yen in January-March, down from 4.02 billion yen a year earlier
and missing a market consensus of a 4 billion yen profit.Prior to the
announcement, shares in Seiko Epson gained 2.4 percent to close at
2,810 yen, outperforming the Nikkei’s 0.3 percent fall.