Our Business News

LOS ANGELES Japanese stocks fell in early Wednesday trading, dragged by overnight losses in the U.S. and with auto makers hit by some weak China sales data. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4% to 9,398.09 in early moves, while the Topix lost 0.5%, with the dollar moving below the 82-yen level to weigh on exporters. Among the top auto names, Honda Motor Co. lost 1.4% and Nissan Motor Co. fall 1.7% after the pair reported large drops in their China sales for November, though losses improved from the previous month. Toyota Motor Corp. , which reported its China sales earlier, [...]

Consumer electronics giant Sharp is on the hunt for a U.S. partner and has approached Dell, among others, about an equity stake, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The Japanese company has offered an equity stake to Dell (DELL) and is discussing a similar offer for Intel (INTC) as its talks with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry slow ahead of the March deadline, according to the report. A Dell spokesperson said the Round Rock, Texas-based company does not comment “on rumor and speculation.” An Intel spokesperson echoed similar comments, while Sharp did not immediately respond. [...]

LOS ANGELES Japanese stocks opened lower Tuesday, with some tech majors among the top decliners and exporters generally lower after overnight gains for the yen. The blue chip Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.2% to 8,987.31, outperforming a 0.4% fall for the broader Topix. Shares of Panasonic Corp. lost 2.3%, while Sharp Corp. fell 3.9% after Standard & Poor’s cut the firm’s debt rating by three notches, becoming the latest ratings agency to do so. Shares of Pioneer Corp. tumbled 5% on pessimism ahead of its earnings report, due out later in the day, while Nissan Motor Co. lost 1.7% in [...]

A customer checks LCD television sets made by Japanese electronics maker Sharp on November 1.Sharp has admitted there is “material doubt” about its ability to stay in business Comes as it warned of a second year of record losses and deepening Japan gloomThe losses are blamed on failed investments in liquid-crystal display manufacturingCame a day after Panasonic stunned investors with a second consecutive $ 10B loss(Financial Times) — Sharp has admitted there is “material doubt” about its ability to stay in business as it warned of a second year of record losses, deepening the gloom surrounding Japan’s once dominant consumer [...]

TOKYO Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp warned it might not be able to survive on its own, as it almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to $ 5.6 billion, and said it was considering alliances with other companies. “Our corporate group has booked massive second-quarter net and operating losses … and now see a serious negative operating cash flow. This raises serious doubts about (our ability) to continue as a going concern,” it said in a statement on Thursday. Bigger Japanese rival Sony Corp, which blazed a trail in the early 1980s with its Walkman portable music players, [...]

TOKYO Japan’s Sharp Corp said on Thursday it was booking restructuring costs of 84.4 billion yen ($ 1.1 billion) for the July-September second quarter, as well as writing down 61 billion yen of deferred tax assets in the same period. The struggling TV maker slashed its net loss forecast for the full year to next March 31 to 450 billion yen from a previous forecast of 250 billion yen. ($ 1 = 79.9300 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Mari Saito; Editing by Michael Watson)

TOKYO Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp warned it might not be able to survive on its own, as it almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to $ 5.6 billion, and said it was considering alliances with other companies. In a statement, the company said it booked massive second-quarter losses and is seeing “serious negative operating cash flow.” “This raises serious doubts about (our ability) to continue as a going concern,” it said, adding it was taking steps, from pay cuts and asset sales to voluntary redundancies, to generate cash flow. Sharp has been in talks for months with [...]

TOKYO Sharp Corp maintained its LCD TV sales forecast at 8 million televisions on Thursday even as the Japanese TV maker deals with a shrinking home market and increased industry competition. But the consumer electronics maker cut its estimate for liquid crystal display panel sales in the year to next March to 880 billion yen ($ 11.01 billion) from an earlier projection for 900 billion yen. ($ 1 = 79.9300 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Writing by James Topham; Editing by Michael [...]

TOKYO Japan’s Sharp Corp, the struggling maker of Aquos TVs, increased its full-year operating loss forecast to 155 billion yen ($ 1.94 billion) from a previous 100 billion yen loss forecast. At a net level, it almost doubled its full-year loss forecast to 450 billion yen. Sharp said, however, it expects to post an operating profit in the current October-March second half, after losing 168.9 billion yen ($ 2.11 billion) in the first half year – a target that will allow its banks to justify a $ 4.6 billion bailout of the TV maker. Sharp has secured fresh loans from [...]

TOKYO Sony Corp is likely to say it returned to an operating profit for July-September after it sold a chemicals business, but investors still aren’t sure a consumer electronics revamp will deliver the profit growth the group seeks. Sony shares, valued at less than $ 12 billion, have dropped 16 percent since end-June and its 5-year credit default swaps – the cost of insuring against debt default – have jumped by almost 60 percent. The benchmark Nikkei average is down by less than 1 percent. The maker of Bravia TVs, Vaio laptops and PlayStation game consoles, battling weak demand and [...]