Japanese electronics conglomerate Panasonic Corp named Kazuhiro Tsuga, the head of its loss-making TV business, as its new president as the company heads for a record annual loss. Tsuga, 55, who has been at the company for more than three decades, will replace Fumio Ohtsubo, who becomes chairman - still in a position of influence and a role that outgoing presidents in Japan usually take.
Founded as a maker of plugs almost a century ago, Panasonic has warned it will make a loss of 780 billion yen ($9.7 billion) in the year to end-March, as it counts the cost of restructuring its business, particularly in TVs. It will also write down 250 billion yen from its acquisition of rival Sanyo Electric.
Ohtsubo, who is vacating the president's office aged 66, rose to the top 6 years ago, but has seen Panasonic shares slump by more than two-thirds, double the decline on the benchmark Nikkei average over the same period. Panasonic's management re-shuffle follows a similar move at domestic rival Sony Corp, which also predicts a hefty loss. There, consumer business chief Kazuo Hirai will take over from CEO Howard Stringer on April 1.
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