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.
