Japanese high-tech giant Hitachi Ltd said Wednesday it slumped deep into the red in the last financial year, pressured by falling electronics prices and the cost of repairing faulty turbines. But the company said the slump was a one-off and less severe than expected, predicting a return to profit in the current year.
Hitachi posted a net loss of 32.8 billion yen (270 million dollars) from the year to March, reversing a net profit of 37.8 billion yen a year earlier. Operating profit dropped 28.7 percent to 182.51 billion yen, although revenue was up 8.3 percent to 10.25 trillion yen.
The company incurred costs to repair faulty turbines supplied to two nuclear power stations in Japan operated by Chubu Electric Power and Hokuriku Electric Power. "Due to the booking of one-off charges for turbine troubles and unprofitable overseas plant projects, the operating profit dropped," Hitachi chief financial officer Toyoaki Nakamura said at a press conference.
Hitachi also blamed the slump on falling prices of flat-screen televisions, sluggish sales of air conditioners and losses in hard disk drive production. "Unabated declines in selling prices of digital consumer products such as flat TVs and DVDs kept a lid on profitability," Nakamura said.
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