FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2004
Matsushita to slash SE Asia units by 40 pc
REUTERS
TOKYO : Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the maker of Panasonic products, said on Thursday it would cut the number of its Southeast Asian units by around 40 per cent by 2006/07, broadening its aggressive restructuring.
It aims to boost its sales in China to one trillion yen ($9.42 billion) in 2006/07 ending in March 2007 from an estimated 300 billion yen this business year, while raising sales in Southeast Asia by 27 per cent to 660 billion yen.
Matsushita has 73 sales and production subsidiaries in Southeast Asia , including Malaysia , the Philippines and Indonesia .
The consumer electronics giant said it aimed to restructure its operations in the region to specialise in high-end products for the North American, European and Japanese markets, while bolstering output of less expensive products in China .
"We started our Southeast Asian operations some 40 years ago and a lot of technology has been transferred. It is only natural that we focus on high-end products like DVD recorders there," a Matsushita spokesman said.
Matsushita aims to utilise lower production costs in China to make items that help it compete with Chinese manufacturers such as Haier Group, China 's largest consumer electronics maker.
Focus on overseas ops
The bulk of Matsushita's restructuring over the last few years has been focused on its domestic operations.
In October 2002 Matsushita made five of its units, including Japan 's top cell phone maker, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd, wholly owned subsidiaries.
It also said last month that it would bid $1.4 billion in a tender offer from late January to mid-March to lift its stake in Matsushita Electric Works Ltd (MEW) to 51 per cent from 31.8 per cent.
The move to make MEW a subsidiary is in line with the consumer electronics giant's strategy to improve profitability and cohesiveness within the group.
The sweeping restructuring and the digital consumer electronics boom helped Matsushita post a group net profit of 23.1 billion yen for the April-September first half of last year, up 32 per cent from a year earlier.
"Consolidation in our domestic operations has run its course. Now it's time to tackle overseas units," the spokesman said.
The company is due to hold a briefing on Friday to unveil its management policies for the next business year starting in April.
Shares in Matsushita gained 1.14 per cent to 1,511 yen by midday , outperforming the Nikkei average, which rose 0.79 per cent.
($1=106.21 yen)
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