Japan’s Sharp to cut 5,000 jobs by March

Japan’s Sharp said last Thursday it will cut 5,000 jobs by March as it reported a quarterly loss and said it would remain in the red for the rest of the year amid losses at its struggling TV business.

The major consumer electronics maker said its net loss for the April to June quarter was 138.4 billion yen (€1.43 billion), compared with a loss of 49.3 billion yen in the same period a year ago.

Its operating loss was 94.1 billion yen (€0.97 billion), plunging from an operating profit of 3.5 billion yen a year ago. Sales fell 28.4 per cent to 458.6 billion yen (€4.75 billion).

The company, which has seen its mainstay television, liquid crystal display and solar panel products struggle, said the job reductions were part of a bid to cut fixed costs by 100 billion yen (€1 billion) to help its dented balance sheet. The company currently employs 57,000 people globally.

“The domestic and Chinese demand for liquid crystal display televisions fell at a faster pace than expected,” the company said in a statement.

“Tough business climate continued as the slower demand forced production adjustment at factories for large LCDs, while prices fell for finished products and electronic devices,” it said.

Sharp also had to book a 15.86 billion yen (€164,000) special loss related to the settlement of a lawsuit brought by Dell, which claimed it had been overcharged by Sharp and several other firms over several years.