Tokyo – Plasma displays sales helped Pioneer during the company’s fiscal first quarter, with revenue from its home electronics segment climbing 15.7 percent, to $379.1 million, up from $328.4 million in the first quarter of last year.
Pioneer defines home electronics as audio/video equipment for home use, equipment for cable television systems, digital broadcast set-top boxes and home telephones.
The large sales of plasma displays for home use worldwide and the yen’s depreciation, helped Pioneer register overseas sales of $250.6 million, a 2.3 percent increase over the $245.7 million recorded in the year-ago period. Sales of digital cable TV set-top boxes in North America decreased.
In Car Electronics, which Pioneer defines as car audio products and car navigation systems, first quarter sales increased 19.7 percent, to $635.3 million, up from $532 million in the first three months of last year.
Increased sales of car audio products, mainly car CD players, helped boost overseas sales of Car Electronics, pushing this segment up 28.8 percent, to $401.1 million, compared with $312.2 million in the same quarter in 2001.
The Home Electronics segment narrowed its operating loss in the first quarter, ended June 30, to $13.1 million, down from an operating loss of $38.2 million in the first quarter last year.
At the same time, Pioneer’s Car Electronics segment registered operating income of $64.6 million in the first three months, a 56.2 percent increase over the $41.4 million recorded year over year.
Total Pioneer revenue for the first quarter increased 18.2 percent, to $1.4 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the same quarter the previous year.
Overall operating income, due mainly to a large increase in sales of home and auto electronics, jumped 47.9 percent, hitting $63.6 million, up from $43.1 million in the prior-year period.
Net income, however, due to foreign exchange losses caused by the U.S. dollar’s depreciation against the Japanese yen during the first quarter, dropped 10.3 percent, to $22.5 million, compared with $25.1 million in the same three months in 2001.
Pioneer said its consolidated forecasts for fiscal 2003, ending in March 2003, are unchanged from the April 2002 estimations. For the 12 months, the company expects revenue of $6 billion, operating income of $208.8 million and net income of $91.9 million.
