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To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (35223)	11/25/1999 5:38:00 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

O.T. ??? Big 5 Chipmakers Post Mixed Interim Results Friday, November 26, 1999 TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japan's large semiconductor and computer manufacturers have reported varying consolidated results for the first half of fiscal 1999. Hitachi Ltd. (6501) returned to net profit and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (6503) saw a big drop in net loss due to restructuring efforts, while Fujitsu Ltd. (6702) was able to hold on to profitability. But Toshiba Corp. (6502) and NEC Corp. (6701) saw losses expand. On Thursday, Hitachi posted a consolidated interim net profit of 3.4 billion yen, a turnaround from the net loss of 142.2 billion yen reported last year, and Mitsubishi Electric said it incurred an interim net loss of only 3.3 billion yen, an improvement from last year's loss of 31.8 billion yen. Although Hitachi's sales fell 2% during the first half to 3.8 trillion yen, operating profit rebounded to 65.7 billion yen from a loss of 39.9 billion yen reported a year ago. "Fixed costs, primarily labor expenses, have been cut by 78 billion yen," said company Vice President Yoshiki Yagi. Interim operating losses at Hitachi's semiconductor business dropped from 60 billion yen last year to 10 billion yen this year, and the consumer electronics division earned a profit of 13.7 billion yen, an improvement of last year's 7.9 billion yen loss. Mitsubishi was also able to improve its operating earnings despite a fall in sales. Revenues dropped 6% to 1.67 trillion yen, but the firm earned an operating profit of 21.8 billion yen, better than last year's 9.8 billion yen loss, as it restructured overseas subsidiaries and cut expenses. The semiconductor division cut its operating losses from last year's 25 billion yen to just 5 billion yen, while consumer electronics earned a profit of 9.3 billion yen, better than last year's loss of 200 million yen. NEC and Fujitsu also saw improvements in their chip businesses. But NEC's telecommunications equipment business suffered from a drop in investment spending by domestic firms, forcing it to report an interim net loss of 48.8 billion yen, bigger than last year's loss of 19.7 billion yen. Fujitsu was able to report an interim net profit of 2.4 billion yen, but this was smaller than last year's profit of 8.4 billion yen due to poor information equipment sales and restructuring expenses. Partly due to the booking of restructuring expenses, Toshiba's chip division saw its operating loss widen from the 23 billion yen reported last year to 60 billion yen. The company has reported an interim net loss of 48.3 billion yen, bigger than last year's loss of 23.6 billion yen. For the full fiscal year, Hitachi, NEC, Mitsubishi and Fujitsu all expect to report net profits on an improvement in chip prices. Toshiba, however, projects a net loss due to a 110 billion yen payment to settle a lawsuit in the U.S. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday morning edition)