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To: keithcray who wrote (5784)	7/16/2001 12:34:12 AM
From: keithcray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 208838

Matsushita may post loss for Q1 Electronics giant says isn't optimistic about profits By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:35 PM ET July 15, 2001 TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial, the world's top consumer electronics maker, is likely to post its first-ever group operating loss in the April-June quarter, according to a published report. The global slowdown in the information-technology market and sluggish semiconductor sales dampened demand for Matsushita's electronics products, forcing it to post a consolidated operating loss of about 20 billion yen ($160.2 million) in the April-June period, the Nihon Keizai daily reported Sunday. This would be the first time the company has fallen into the red account since it began disclosing quarterly earnings in 1971. The company posted a profit of 21.2 billion yen in the year-earlier period. A Matsushita (MC: news, msgs, alerts) (JP: 6752: news, alerts) spokeswoman said the company wasn't optimistic about posting an increase in its operating profit in the first quarter. "We are aware of the severe situation that Matsushita, like many other IT-related companies, faces. We are not optimistic about posting an increase in our first-quarter profits but we cannot provide details ahead of the first-quarter earnings announcement," she said. The Nihon Keizai reported that Matsushita is likely to post a 5 percent decline in sales during the quarter to about 1.7 trillion yen. The newspaper added that a major improvement in earnings was unlikely in July-September due to delays in inventory adjustment. The Osaka-based company may also end up posting a group operating loss in the first business half to September, it said. Matsushita is scheduled to announce its first-quarter business results on July 31. Shares of Matsushita fell 0.8 percent, or 15 yen, to 1,895 yen by late morning Tokyo. Mariko Ando is a Tokyo-based reporter for CBS MarketWatch.com.