Tokyo — Victor Company of Japan (JVC) Americas region improved its fiscal third-quarter consumer electronics business, driven by growth in sales of HD-ILA hybrid projection TVs and camcorders, the company said.
Business in Japan, however, declined year-on-year in the third quarter, ended Dec. 31, with the LCD TV growth insufficient to make up for a decrease in sales of DVD equipment.
This combination of third-quarter business results in the two countries led to overall flat companywide CE sales for the three months, coming in at $1.58 billion.
JVC’s software and media business — which includes blank media, music and video software such as CDs, videodiscs, and prerecorded music and video tapes — recorded double-digit growth in the third quarter, rising 16.2 percent to $260.1 million from a year-ago $223.9 million.
Overall overseas sales in the third quarter at JVC climbed 4 percent, reaching $1.44 billion, up from $1.38 billion in the same three months in 2004.
In the nine months, CE segment sales slipped 2 percent to $4 billion from $4.1 billion, while software and media sales increased 10 percent to $694.7 million from $630.9 million.
Overseas sales for the nine months dropped 3 percent to $3.7 billion from a year-on-year $3.8 billion.
Although consolidated JVC sales in the third quarter edged upward 1 percent to $2.05 billion, from $2.04 billion in the same three months the prior year, operating income declined 80 percent in the same comparative quarters, down to $12.9 million from $63.3 million.
JVC blamed the income decrease on a “tough struggle” in its CE business, affected by unexpectedly sharp declines in selling prices for LCD televisions in the Americas and decreasing sales of audio products in all regions.
Another major impact, said the company, was a drop in sales of DVD equipment caused by elimination of models, though the camcorder and car electronics businesses continued to be stable. The software and media segments made progress in improving their business positions, said JVC.
Consolidated net income for the three months dropped under $1 million, to $639,139, compared with $40.1 million in the same quarter in 2004.
For the nine months, consolidated JVC sales dipped 3 percent to $5.4 billion from $5.5 billion. The company reported an operating loss of $18.9 million for the quarter, compared with a $100.3 million year-over-year. Net income for the nine months moved to the negative side of the ledger, going red at $129.8 million, compared with net income of $2.8 million in the same period a year earlier.
