2nd UPDATE: Panasonic To Sell Sanyo's Home Appliance Operations To Haier, Posts 1Q Net Loss
28 Luglio 2011 - 3:13PM
Dow Jones News
Panasonic Corp. (6752.TO) said Thursday that it will sell
subsidiary Sanyo Electric Co.'s household appliance businesses to
the Haier Group, in an uncommon instance of a Japanese electronics
conglomerate allowing a rising Chinese rival take over a chunk of a
major business segment.
The sale of the Sanyo operations -- mostly washing machine and
refrigerator businesses -- is part of Panasonic's efforts to
eliminate overlapping areas since its 2009 purchase of Sanyo. For
Haier, the acquisition of Sanyo's businesses will help it move a
step closer to becoming a globally recognized quality appliance
brand like Whirlpool or Electrolux.
While the companies didn't disclose the value of the deal, a
person familiar with the matter said Thursday that the sale price
would be about Y10 billion ($130 million). Panasonic, which
separately reported a first quarter net loss Thursday, has been
rummaging through Sanyo's business portfolio to offload assets that
it sees as nonperforming.
"We haven't finished sorting out overlapping businesses (at
Sanyo) yet. We are still half way," Panasonic Chief Financial
Officer Makoto Uenoyama said at a press conference.
Panasonic, best known for its Viera flat-panel televisions,
bought a majority stake in Sanyo in December 2009 mainly because
the smaller Japanese electronics maker is one of the world's
biggest suppliers of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in
consumer electronics and a competitive player in solar panels. It
turned Sanyo into a wholly owned unit in April this year.
As Sanyo produces a wide range of home appliances that the
parent company also makes, Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said
earlier this year that the segment would need to be
reorganized.
Sanyo's rechargeable battery business faces increasingly fierce
competition from South Korean and Chinese players, making it all
the more necessary for Panasonic to streamline Sanyo's operations
and focus on the competitive segment.
Sanyo's washing machine and refrigerator businesses generated
Y85.6 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year ended March 31.
For the same period, Sanyo posted revenue of Y1.489 trillion and a
net loss of Y35.16 billion.
The acquisition of the Sanyo businesses is "an important part of
Haier's overall growth strategy," said Haier Vice President Du
Jingguo in a statement released Thursday.
Haier has said previously it was looking at overseas
acquisitions to grow. President Yang Mianmian told Dow Jones
Newswires in March it would look at opportunities that arise.
The Chinese firm previously held talks with General Electric Co.
in 2008 to buy the U.S. firm's appliance unit. Before the talks
with GE, Haier made an unsuccessful bid for Maytag Corp. in 2004
but lost out to Whirlpool Corp. (WHR).
Haier holds more than 6% of the world's white-goods market. Last
year, the company posted sales of CNY135.7 billion ($20.7
billion).
Even after selling Sanyo's home appliances businesses to Haier,
Panasonic's own home appliances businesses will be able to stay
competitive against the Chinese rival, said Uenoyama.
"We have a major technological advantage in household
appliances," with superior offerings of energy-saving products, he
said.
Also on Thursday, Panasonic reported its earnings for the fiscal
first quarter from April to June. The company swung to a net loss
of Y30.35 billion in the three-month period, reversing from a net
profit of Y43.68 billion in the same period a year earlier, as the
lingering impact from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hurt its
domestic production.
Panasonic is one of many Japanese manufacturers that reported
damage to production facilities after the disaster. Even after the
company's affected facilities resumed operations, disruption to
parts and raw material supplies continued.
The company eked out an operating profit of Y5.58 billion for
the quarter, compared with a profit of Y83.84 billion a year
earlier. Stiff price competition and higher materials costs also
dented operating profit in the quarter, the company said.
Revenue dropped 11% to Y1.930 trillion from Y2.161 trillion.
The operating profit figure would have been Y60 billion higher,
and revenue Y120 billion higher, had it not been for the
earthquake's impact, the company said.
Although the quake's impact is fading, another major concern for
Panasonic is the yen's strength, particularly against the dollar,
which hurts their overseas revenue and profits when
repatriated.
"The current levels for the yen are abnormal," said Uenoyama. "I
don't expect the yen to stay this strong for a long time."
With the yen's strength, high corporate taxes and concerns over
higher electricity costs, "it's becoming extremely difficult to
keep manufacturing operations in Japan," he added.
Still, Panasonic maintained its earnings forecasts released last
month for the full fiscal year through March. The company expects a
59% drop in net profit to Y30 billion and a 12% decline in
operating profit to Y270 billion, while it expects revenue to stay
almost flat at Y8.7 trillion.
Its earnings forecasts are based on the assumption the dollar
will average Y83 and the euro Y110 during the fiscal year.
Although the dollar is currently weaker against the yen than
Panasonic's forecast, Uenoyama said that the company's foreign
exchange forward contracts -- a way to hedge against currency
fluctuations -- already cover the July-September quarter entirely
and a majority of the October-December quarter.
-By Juro Osawa, Dow Jones Newswires; 813 6269 2794;
juro.osawa@dowjones.com
Grafico Azioni Panasonic (NYSE:PC)
Storico
Da Giu 2024 a Lug 2024
Grafico Azioni Panasonic (NYSE:PC)
Storico
Da Lug 2023 a Lug 2024