Pioneer: Lower Q3 Sales, Loss

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 2/13/2012

Tokyo - Pioneer Electronics reported lower net sales and an operating and net loss in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31.

However, unlike other Japanese CE manufacturers it has not adjusted its fiscal 2012 forecast, where it still predicts to report net and operating profits.

Consolidated net sales declined 13 percent year on year to 101,829 million yen. Operating income fell to a 1,707 million yen loss, from the prior year's 5,060 million yen profit. There was a net loss of 8,078 million yen, compared with a 2,668 million yen profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2011.

Much of the blame for the poor results match what other Japanese CE makers have said recently: the high value of the yen, the Thailand floods that hurt the supply chain and production, slower sales in the U.S. and other developed markets, and specific to Pioneer, a 3,791 million yen extraordinary loss in connection with the introduction of a defined contribution pension plan.

By category, car electronics sales fell 5.7 percent year on year to 58,406 million yen. Operating income in this segment fell, resulting in a loss of 2,251 million yen, compared with a 3,990 million yen profit.

Home electronics sales declined 25.5 percent year on year, to 33,313 million yen despite favorable sales of AV receivers in Europe and North America. Operating income in this segment declined 87.1 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2011, to 224 million yen.

While the fiscal year forecast of Pioneer for the year ending March 31, 2012 is unchanged, it is still disappointing compared with the prior year's actual results.

Net sales are expected to be 440,000 million yen, down 3.8 percent from the prior year's actual results. Operating income will be 11,000 million yen down 30.5 percent from the prior year's actual results, and net income will be 1,000 million yen, down 90.3 percent from the prior year's actual results.