Problems in TECHNOLAND
Fujitsu Says May Miss Profit, Sales Forecasts;
Shares Tumble for 2nd Day
By Mari Murayama
(Adds analyst's comments in paragraph four, updates trading.)
Tokyo, March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Fujitsu Ltd., Japan's largest
computer maker, said it may fall short of its profit and sales
forecasts this year as it faces tough price competition.
The profit shortfall will come in the year that will end in
March, a company spokesman said, though he declined to provide
details.
Fujitsu shares fell for a second day, sliding as much as 200
yen, or 5.6 percent, to 3,390, after a 5 percent drop yesterday.
The shares last traded at 3,470, down 120. A total of 4.8 million
shares changed hands by late morning in Tokyo, compared with the
six-month full-day average of 7.2 million shares.
``Their pretax profit could fall short of forecast by about
50 billion yen, and net income by 20 billion yen,' said Takashi
Mimura, an analyst at Societe Generale, who rates the stock a
``buy.' ``Price competition for mainframes and other hardware
equipment' will likely trigger the shortfall.
In October, Fujitsu forecast consolidated earnings for the
year of 60 billion yen ($560 million) on sales of 5.5 trillion
yen. The company forecast current profit, or pretax profit from
operations, of 140 billion yen. |
