Hitachi Ltd, Japan's third-largest chipmaker, said it had a record loss last fiscal year after chip prices tumbled amid the industry's worst year ever, forcing it to cut jobs and exit unprofitable businesses.
The Tokyo-based company posted a loss of Japanese yen 484 billion (US$3.8 billion), or US$144.95 a share, in the year ended March 31 compared with net income of Japanese yen 104 billion, or Japanese yen 34.6 a share, a year earlier. The loss was greater than the Japanese yen 480 billion estimate by Hitachi. Sales fell 5 percent to Japanese yen 7.99 trillion.
For the fiscal year ending March next year, Hitachi expects net income of Japanese yen 60 billion on sales of Japanese yen 8.1 trillion.
Hitachi's loss is the biggest among Japan's five largest chipmakers, which are reeling after last year's global economic slowdown left companies scaling back purchases of everything from computer-memory chips to fiber-optic equipment.
Combined, losses at Hitachi and its domestic peers Toshiba Corp, NEC Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Corp and Fujitsu Ltd totaled US$11.5 billion last year.
To return to health, Hitachi said in February that it hoped to save Japanese yen 460 billion in the year ending March 2003 by cutting jobs, revamping businesses and using fewer parts suppliers.
Hitachi's chip division posted a Japanese yen 134 billion loss last fiscal year. The company said it expects the loss to narrow to Japanese yen 23 billion this year.
The company said it will increase overall capital spending 4 percent to Japanese yen 890 billion this fiscal year. Spending on its chip division will increase 9 percent to Japanese yen 24 billion.
The company had a second-half group loss of Japanese yen 373 billion.
Hitachi's second-half sales fell 8 percent to Japanese yen 4.06 trillion.
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