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To: robert b furman who wrote (356)	4/27/2002 3:46:52 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13403

Technology: Panasonic's parent company posts biggest-ever loss Copyright © 2002 AP Online The Associated Press TOKYO (April 26, 2002 3:28 p.m. EDT) - Hurt by restructuring costs and a global slump that battered sales, Japanese consumer and industrial electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. posted its biggest annual loss of $3.4 billion for the past fiscal year. The company behind the Panasonic and National brands said Friday that its group net loss totaled 431 billion yen for the year ended March 31 on a 10.5 percent drop in sales to 6.877 trillion yen ($53.7 billion). The loss was the largest since the company's founding more than 80 years ago and reflects Matsushita's problems in dealing with the global technology slump that started in late 2000 as well as weak marketing of its best-known brands. Matsushita suffered sluggish sales in a wide range of its products - mobile phones, factory automation equipment, semiconductors and electronic parts. It also took a hefty restructuring charge including 164 billion yen ($1.28 billion) in expenses such as allowances for early retirement programs. But the Osaka-based company said it expects to return to profit this fiscal year on huge cost cuts, the benefits of restructuring and better sales of consumer products. For the fiscal year ending in March 2003, Matsushita forecasts a net profit of 42 billion yen ($32.8 million) on sales of 7.08 trillion yen ($55.3 billion). In addition to reform efforts, Matsushita is pinning its hopes for recovery on a sales increase from consumer products such as plasma display panels, digital television sets, DVD recorders and mobile phone handsets. Matsushita plans to organize its group businesses into 14 key areas by April 2003, including audiovisual, mobile and fixed communications, car electronics, factory automation, semiconductors, battery, display devices and electronic parts.