Sharp said yesterday it was considering an overhaul of its sluggish European business after a report in a major daily said the Japanese electronics giant would pull the plug on its home appliance unit on the continent.
Shares in the struggling firm jumped 2.10 percent in an initial response to a report in the Nikkei Business Daily before easing slightly to end 0.9 percent higher at ¥336.
The reported move would see the vast company — working to recover from years of huge losses — cut about 300 staff, or 10 percent of its European workforce, the Nikkei reported.
Among the changes, the maker of Aquos-brand electronics plans to abandon its European television business as it loses tens of millions of US dollars a year, it added.
The Osaka-based company launched Polish production of liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs in 2007, but has only won a minimal market share in Europe, the Nikkei said.
Sharp may outsource European TV sales to Taiwan’s TPV Technology Group (冠捷科技集團) and has proposed selling the Polish factory to the company, the report said.
Sharp is also in talks with Turkey’s Vestel over its microwave oven and home-appliance business in Europe, the Nikkei said. It added the firm is eyeing an exit from building solar power stations with a ¥30 billion (US$29.4 million) sale of its share of the joint venture to its Italian partner Enel Group.
In a statement yesterday, Sharp acknowledged that it is “doing various studies on restructuring operations in Europe, but nothing has been decided at the moment.”
Sharp is a major exporter that generates about 60 percent of its sales abroad, but the firm is shifting its focus to wealthier Asian and North American markets, the Nikkei said.
European revenue accounted for only 8 percent of total sales in the most recent fiscal year, it added.
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