Seiko Epson Corp, Japan’s largest maker of inkjet printers, widened its full-year loss forecast to a record because of costs to reorganize its flat-panel and semiconductor operations.
The net loss will reach ¥100 billion (US$1 billion) in the year ending March 31, wider than the ¥4 billion projected last month, the company said yesterday.
Seiko Epson will book a one-time charge of ¥90 billion, including ¥66.2 billion in restructuring costs at the electronic-device business, which includes chips as well as small panels for mobile phones.
Seiko Epson is cutting back its semiconductor and liquid- crystal-display (LCD) operations and focusing on printers and projectors to help weather slumping demand as the global recession erodes demand for electronics.
Suwa, central Japan-based Seiko Epson said the reorganization would bolster profit by ¥11 billion next fiscal year, helping it break even.
No full-time jobs will be cut under the reorganization, general managing director Kenji Kubota said at a briefing in Tokyo. Seiko Epson had 93,279 employees as of Sept. 30, its Web site said.
The company will close its flat-panel factory in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, and focus output of the devices at its facility in Tottori Prefecture, in the west of the country.
Seiko Epson will also shut its semiconductor-production line at a plant in Nagano, central Japan, relocating output to a factory in Yamagata, northern Japan. The Nagano factory will be closed within three years, spokesman Jun Tezuka said earlier yesterday.
The printer maker cut its full-year dividend by 32 percent to ¥26 per share. It paid ¥32 a year earlier.
The net loss would be the biggest since the company was formed through the merger of Suwa Seikosha Co and Epson Corp in November 1985.
The company maintained its forecast for operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, of ¥6 billion and sales of ¥1.14 trillion.
Seiko Epson rose 8 percent to close at ¥1,088 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange before the announcement.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS