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Strategies & Market Trends : JAPAN-Nikkei-Time to go back up? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fut_trade who wrote (969)	5/2/1998 4:07:00 AM
From: Zardoz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

Message 4294363

To: fut_trade who wrote (969)	5/4/1998 1:59:00 AM
From: fut_trade	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3902

Dismal Portrait of Japan's Future Reflects Nation's Current Mood interactive.wsj.com For at least the next 20 years, we are going to keep telling the world that we realize we need to reform, but we won't be able to do it," says Mr. Sakaiya, economic historian, novelist and former planner at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. "There is just no way to avoid pessimism about the Japanese economy in the year 2018."

To: fut_trade who wrote (969)	5/20/1998 8:14:00 AM
From: fut_trade	Respond to of 3902

>...matsushita... news.com Matsushita 4th-Qtr Profit Falls 39% Amid Japan Slump (Update1) Bloomberg News May 20, 1998, 3:36 a.m. PT Matsushita 4th-Qtr Profit Falls 39% Amid Japan Slump (Update1) (Adds company comment in second section.) Osaka, May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, indicated fourth-quarter operating profit fell 38.8 percent as consumer spending in Japan slumped. Group operating income at the maker of Panasonic, Quasar and Technics brands declined to 75.788 billion yen ($556.7 million), or 35.88 yen a share, in the three months ended March 31, on revenue of 1.909 trillion yen, down 6.3 percent. Indicated results were calculated by subtracting nine-month totals from full-year results reported by the company. Matsushita's biggest problem is ''it has so much exposure to the domestic economy, which keeps getting worse, and it's going to keep getting worse,'' said Reinier Dobbelmann, an analyst at SBC Warburg Securities Japan Ltd. Japan accounts for 49 percent of Matsushita's sales, while rival Sony Corp. relies on the domestic market for only 28 percent of its sales. On a net basis, Matsushita indicated a fourth-quarter loss of 2.596 billion yen as changes to Japan's tax system forced the company to revalue assets, said Susumu Ishihara, a Matsushita director. Domestic Conditions ''Cool'' The net loss in the fourth quarter pushed the Osaka-based company's net for the year down 32.1 percent to 93.6 billion yen, or 44.32 yen a share, which was below analysts' expectations of 58.7 yen a share. Sales gained 2.8 percent to 7.676 trillion yen. ''Domestic business conditions were very cool from November onwards, but overseas markets were favorable to us,'' Ishihara said. For the current fiscal year Matsushita forecasts pretax profit growth of 0.7 percent. That forecast ''may be too optimistic'' given the weakness of demand for consumer electronics in Japan and many Asian countries, said Andrew Haskins, an analyst at HSBC Securities Japan Ltd. Matsushita's projection ''certainly sits a little oddly'' with the forecast of a 41.8 percent drop in net profit at Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., its cellular phone subsidiary, and Sony's forecast of a 3.2 percent fall in net profit for the year, Haskins said. ''And Matsushita Electric doesn't have businesses like (Sony's home video-game player) PlayStation or a film business to balance weak spending on consumer electronics,'' said Haskins. Matsushita forecasts net earnings of 128 billion yen in the year to March 1999, or a 36.7 percent increase. That number is misleading as this year's net was brought down by the change in tax laws. Sales Tax What's hurting Matsushita most is consumer spending in Japan, which has fallen steadily the past year after the government increased its sales tax to 5 percent from 3 percent on April 1, 1997. Spending on consumer electronics in Japan could fall 5 percent to 10 percent this year, leaving Matsushita with the option of ''continuing to grow its overseas sales -- that's about it,'' said Dobbelmann. The results also reflected stiffer price competition Matsushita's audiovisual products face from Korean manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, analysts said. Such competition is unwelcome at a time when Matsushita's trying to squeeze as much profit and sales as possible from the U.S. and European markets. Sales at Matsushita's consumer electronics business fell 2 percent to 3.359 trillion yen for the full year. Consumer electronics made up 42 percent of total sales. Communication and industrial equipment revenue, which includes products such as mobile phones, computer parts and industrial robots, rose 9 percent to 2.965 trillion yen, or 38 percent of all sales. That section benefited from ''strong'' sales of fax machines and peripheral components for PCs, Ishihara said. Sales of batteries, liquid-crystal displays and other products in the electronic components business rose 4 percent to 1.566 trillion yen, or 20 percent of sales. Matsushita Electric shares rose 50 yen to 2,225. The company announced its results after Japanese exchanges closed for the day. Matsushita Electric shares were little changed in the last year, rising just 1.27 percent. Still that was better than the broad Topix index of companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which has fallen about 18 percent for the same period. Group earnings include profit of the parent company, any subsidiary in which the parent's equity is 50 percent or higher, and most affiliated companies in which the parent has between 20 and 50 percent. --Peter Poole-Wilson in the Tokyo newsroom (813) 3201-8868/pa/db