Friday May 25, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Toshiba profit dives 70%

Business Feb. 01, 2012 - 06:50AM JST ( 12 )

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Order by Time Order by Popularity

12 Comments

1

gaijinfoFeb. 01, 2012 - 12:00PM JST

The poor performance reflected “the impact of sharp yen appreciation, the March earthquake, the floods in Thailand and demand deterioration,

This is troubling. Not because they have shrinking profits, but because they list "demand deterioration" as the least of their problems, when in fact, its the only problem. Any company that blames it's sinking profits on things outside of it's control doesn't stand much of a chance on the free market. Plenty of other companies are making profits despite tsunamis and floods and exchange rates.
0

timtakFeb. 01, 2012 - 12:01PM JST

What with Toshiba, Honda, NEC, and other companies reporting large reductions in profits who is going to pay the tax? I am, for my sins, a public employee.
1

The Munya TimesFeb. 01, 2012 - 03:10PM JST

They like many others in red, raised the profit to an unreasonable limit, execs took all the money, degraded product quality, made their workers and employees disappointed and uninterested in their job, burnt out staff, high product prices, expensive and low quality but torturing client services and repair, sluggish development, lack of expertise, talented and creative employees are harassed and bullied out of the company, endless in-house hypocrisy.

A paradise for talentless careerists. A sure recipe for company failure, the execs rescued their fortune to offshore companies and banks, they took the money and now they abandon ship,. They evacuate now according to their well laid plans and are looking for their next victim company.

Easy, they don't need to be good at anything, they don't need to know anything, just be shameless and unscrupulous and navigate well within the corporate mechanism and the law.
-1

Sarcasm321Feb. 01, 2012 - 05:00PM JST

Munya Times: what you wrote probably describes most companies in the world right now!
-1

wipeoutFeb. 01, 2012 - 06:07PM JST

In the red means losing money, MunyaTimes. This company is reporting (severely) reduced profits. Not the same thing.
-1

wipeoutFeb. 01, 2012 - 06:17PM JST

Also, since the 2008 crash/global recession it has been notable that Western executives continue to be highly paid, even as their companies are performing poorly, many even being awarded large increases. Japanese execs are paid far more modestly.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2010/06/japaneseexecutivepay

Where's your evidence for "execs took all the money"?
-1

herefornowFeb. 02, 2012 - 01:11AM JST

Great management. They just now, on Feruary 1st, figured out that their profit for the year ending the end of NEXT month will be down 33% from their forecast. Japanese companies and boards are a joke.
-1

nigelboyFeb. 02, 2012 - 01:56AM JST

Great management. They just now, on Feruary 1st, figured out that their profit for the year ending the end of NEXT month will be down 33% from their forecast. Japanese companies and boards are a joke.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that their original forecast was announced in May of 2011. A lot of things happened including but not limited to high yen against not only the dollar but the Euro, Thai flooding, and Euro crisis which resulted in spike of long term interest rates for several nations.
-1

herefornowFeb. 02, 2012 - 02:25AM JST

nigelboy -- horse feathers. They should have admitted they were going to be that far off well before now. None of the things you mention just happened. They are all old news. That is why U.S. companies are required to file QUARTERLY updates and projections. Leaving a profit forecast in place for ten months, that has been flawed for six months or more, is simply criminal and shows how lax corporate management and governance is in Japan -- never will be confused with "world-class". More second-rate.
-1

nigelboyFeb. 02, 2012 - 02:45AM JST

They should have admitted they were going to be that far off well before now.

uuum. They did.

http://www.toshibatec.co.jp/ir/material/news/

That is why U.S. companies are required to file QUARTERLY updates and projections.

uhhmm. Same in Japan as well.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%BA%E7%AE%97%E7%9F%AD%E4%BF%A1#.E5.9B.9B.E5.8D.8A.E6.9C.9F.E6.B1.BA.E7.AE.97.E7.9F.AD.E4.BF.A1

The operative word here is 四半期決算短信
-1

Hide SuzukiFeb. 02, 2012 - 05:39AM JST

@nigelboy

you are right and informative as always, not always easy to find on JT unfortunately.
0

kchozeFeb. 02, 2012 - 05:43AM JST

@gainjinfo

This is troubling. Not because they have shrinking profits, but because they list "demand deterioration" as the least of their problems, when in fact, its the only problem. Any company that blames it's sinking profits on things outside of it's control doesn't stand much of a chance on the free market. Plenty of other companies are making profits despite tsunamis and floods and exchange rates.

Name me one Japanese company which profits are increasing. All Japanese companies are seeing their profits plummet or turn into losses. That's because, yes, things outside of your control CAN affect the bottom line.

If you're paying your works in Yen, but sell your products in dollars, of course if the Yen appreciates, your profit margin will be reduced. If your plants close down because of natural disasters, of course you're not going to sell as many profits and you may have to spend more to rehabilitate these facilities. And of course, if the economy goes badly and consumers spend less, hence demand deterioration, it will also affect the bottom line. Of course you can try to reverse all of these effects, but you can't always do it, no matter how hard you try or how good you are with a business.

I don't even see why I am bothering to argue the point. Your affirmation is absurd on its face.