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Nov 01, Sharp Corp has now publicly announced it own doubts about it's ability to continue as a Corporation without radical corporate change and new investors.

http://www.reuters.com/article...101?type=companyNews

(Reuters) - Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp warned it might not be able to survive on its own, as it almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to $5.6 billion, and said it was considering alliances with other companies.

In a statement, the company said it booked massive second-quarter losses and is seeing "serious negative operating cash flow." "This raises serious doubts about (our ability) to continue as a going concern," it said, adding it was taking steps, from pay cuts and asset sales to voluntary redundancies, to generate cash flow.
quote:
Originally posted by SalesServiceGuy:
Nov 01, Sharp Corp has now publicly announced it own doubts about it's ability to continue as a Corporation without radical corporate change and new investors.

http://www.reuters.com/article...101?type=companyNews

(Reuters) - Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp warned it might not be able to survive on its own, as it almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to $5.6 billion, and said it was considering alliances with other companies.

In a statement, the company said it booked massive second-quarter losses and is seeing "serious negative operating cash flow." "This raises serious doubts about (our ability) to continue as a going concern," it said, adding it was taking steps, from pay cuts and asset sales to voluntary redundancies, to generate cash flow.


Its about time they admitted to their customers and future customers and shareholders the truth. Instead of this ongoing spin from SIICA. Something that we have known all along.

I'm not certain I beleive the story about its copier division being profitable either. They dont sell enough of them.
Nov 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Japan's Sharp Corp fell and Fitch Ratings downgraded its debt to junk status on Friday, a day after it warned of a $5.6 billion net loss for the year and said it might not be able to survive on its own.

http://www.reuters.com/article...102?type=companyNews

"Effectively shunned by the debt capital markets because of its massive losses and falling market share"

"Worries about its cash liquidity have mounted in the credit markets, where the cost of insuring Sharp's debt has jumped more than 30-fold since the start of the year and is now more than 10 times the cost for Sony and Panasonic."
Sharp Corp. may turn to the last resort of Japanese companies facing potential bankruptcy – the government. With 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion) of convertible bonds maturing in 2013, Sharp may have to ask the state Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. or Innovation Network Corp. of Japan for money, said Fumiaki Sato, co-founder of Sangyo Sosei Advisory Inc., a turnaround advisory firm in Tokyo.

"Sharp, the world’s worst performing major stock"

“Fitch does not foresee any meaningful operational turnaround in the company’s core business over the short- to medium-term,” the ratings company said."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Bu...record-loss-forecast
The following was released by the rating agency)

SEOUL/SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, November 12 (Fitch) This week Matt Jamieson spoke with Alvin Lim, Fitch's TMT sector analyst based in Seoul, about the recent downgrade of Sharp Corporation ('B-'/RWN) and his views on Panasonic Corporation's ('BBB-'/Negative) latest financial results.

Mr Jamieson is Head of APAC Research in Fitch's Corporate Ratings Group. Alvin explains that very weak liquidity and substantial operating losses drove the Sharp downgrade. Panasonic's EBIT margins have recently improved to stave off a rating action at this juncture.

However a failure to generate higher cash flow could result in a downgrade to speculative grade within the next 12 months.

Matt: Fitch recently downgraded Sharp by six notches from 'BBB-' to 'B-', a level which indicates the presence of a material default risk. Can you explain the main factors behind such a dramatic downgrade?

Alvin: By way of background let me explain that Fitch downgraded Sharp's rating to the lowest investment grade level of 'BBB-' in December 2011 and changed the Outlook to Negative in February 2012 due to poor operational performance, particularly at its core LCD TV and panel businesses which make up over 60% of the company's total revenue. Further, in September 2012 Fitch placed Sharp's ratings on Negative Watch, based on escalating liquidity and operating issues. Now in early November 2012 Sharp's financial results for H1FY13 revealed a negative EBIT margin of 15%, that the company continues to hemorrhage cash and it is facing a severe liquidity crisis. Cash on hand of JPY221bn is significantly short of the JPY898bn of debt maturing within the next 12 months, and there is a risk that continued support from its creditor banks may not be forthcoming. Hence in light of the acute liquidity risk and substantial operating losses, we downgraded the ratings to the bottom of the single 'B' category, and maintained the Negative Watch.

Matt: As part of the rationale for the downgrade, Fitch also commented that it doesn't expect any meaningful operational turnaround in the company's core business over the short-to-medium term. Can you explain the basis for such a pessimistic outlook?

Alvin: Firstly their position in the global TV market continues to deteriorate, the gap is widening with Korean TV makers, and this trend is not likely to reverse any time soon. For the past two to three years the company focused on producing and driving the market for super large-sized TVs; however, demand has been well below expectations and they have had to discount prices to generate sales. This, in turn, has weakened the company's panel business, especially at its 10th generation facility in Osaka. Secondly, their technology development remains a step behind that of Korean manufacturers. Supposedly Sharp had a good reputation for technology for small- and medium-sized panels, but the company recently was not able to mass-produce them at an acceptable quality and in a timely manner to supply key clients, including major mobile device makers. While the quality or the yield rate of its TV panels may improve, contribution from this area remains uncertain. Thirdly, the high yen continues to work against the company. While there is some expectation that the Japanese yen could depreciate, so long as the USD/JPY remains at around the 80 mark, price competiveness and profitability will continue to erode.

Matt: Panasonic also reported a huge net loss for H1FY13. What is Fitch's view of Panasonic compared with Sharp?

Alvin: Firstly, let me explain that we downgraded Panasonic's rating to 'BBB-'/Negative in February 2012 due to deteriorating operating and financial results. At the time we expected that the company would be taking on substantial restructuring initiatives to streamline its cost structure. Now, while it is true that in Q2 FY13 Panasonic reported a substantial net loss, this was largely due to restructuring charges at the non-operating level. Most of these restructuring charges were non-cash items, such as impairment charges and income tax provisions after writing off deferred tax assets. Importantly at the operating or EBIT level, the company's performance actually improved during the first six months of FY13 with an EBIT margin of 2.4% versus just 0.1% in same period last year.

Matt: What will it take to downgrade or stabilise Panasonic's ratings then?

Alvin: Panasonic's operations are slowly improving, and the company's CEO is clearly focused on restructuring. However, the company's cash flow from operations (CFO) remains very low, and free cash flow (FCF) generation remains negative. Therefore, Fitch will focus not only on whether the company can further improve its operating margins, but also if this can flow through to higher CFO generation and positive FCF in the short-to medium-term. If the company is not able to achieve this, its ratings are likely to be downgraded to speculative grade.

Matt: Finally, why are Samsung Electronics ('A+'/Stable) and LG Electronics ('BBB'/Negative) significantly more profitable than the Japanese technology names?

Alvin: In short it is because the Koreans have better price competitiveness, product quality and technology. While the overall global market for key electronics products such as flat panel TVs has slowed down, the Koreans are taking a significantly large slice of the market compared with two to three years ago. Since their TVs are selling well, this enables their component panel divisions to achieve necessary economies of scale. This is particularly true for Samsung Electronics, as its high profitability and cash flow generation enable the company to continue investing heavily into R&D and capex so that it remains at the forefront of the technology curve.
I spoke to an old friend who's been a dealer rep for decades, literaly, who is with Sharp (one of five nationwide). He indicated that dealers are still signing up and that fellow Sharp employees want Kyocera-Mita to buy up the division.
I feel that like what the US Government did for the US Auto industry, Japan will do for their panel industry. Japan cannot lose to Korea in the panel field like it has in the automobile field.
Apple has sunk a bunch of it's vast coroprate treasure into Sharp recently to hold onto their suppliers.
Wonder how much government assistance Sammy gets from Korea? Like it or not, government funding (ownership) of private enterprise is the only way HUGE multi-national manufacturers are going to be able to survive in this worldwide economic slowdown - the big question is . . . Is it the new-Normal?
Nov 15 (Basis Point) - Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd's chairman is lining up a T$19 billion ($654 million) loan for his purchase of a stake in Sharp's 10th-generation liquid crystal display (LCD) plant, said sources with knowledge of the matter.

Chairman Terry Guo is providing a personal guarantee on the loan, the sources said, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A Taiwan investment company owned by Guo will be the borrower on the financing, which is secured and has a tenor of less than five years, said one of the sources.

Earlier this year, Guo agreed to pay a total of 66 billion yen ($817 million) for 1.32 million shares of Sharp Display Products Corp (SDP), representing 36 percent of SDP, which controls the world's only 10th-generation LCD plant in Sakai city, Osaka.

Apart from Guo's personal investment in SDP, Sharp has also agreed with Hon Hai to issue new shares to the group through third-party allotment, according to an announcement by Sharp on March 27. There have been no announcements on the progress of the matter, although Taiwan's local media reported the two parties said they would make a final decision by March 2013.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that US-based Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc are in talks to jointly invest about 30 billion yen in the debt-stricken Japanese consumer electronics maker. Sharp may reach an agreement as early as the end of this month with Qualcomm, according to the report.

Osaka-based Sharp, which has lost three-quarters of its market value so far in 2012, nearly doubled its forecast full-year net loss to 450 billion yen earlier this month after booking a $1.1 billion restructuring charge in July-September.

In September, Sharp received a guarantee for 360 billion yen in loans from its two main lenders, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Corporate Bank.

The loans are enough to sustain the company through its next financial year to March 2014, which includes the redemption of 200 billion yen in convertible bonds next September, Sharp's Chief Financial Officer Tetsuo Onishi said in September.
Sharp Update!!

Intel may take a 30 billion yen investment in Sharp by the end of the month, the 30 billion yen is less than 10% of what Sharp expects to lose this year.

There was also a report that Qualcom may also do something.

In another report Ming the Merciless aka Terry Guo is providing a personal guarantee for HonHai to move foward with his purchase of Sharp's 10th gen LCD plant. It's reported for about 19 billion yen. Keep in mind that Sharp is expected to lose 450 billion yen this year. Thus that's 5.6 billion US dollars!

Money from Intel and Hon Hai is only 49 billion yen.

Another report states that Sharp will raise production at it's Kameyama No. 2plant to near 100%, this plant produces the IGZO screens for Apple's Ipad tablet.

Sharp is banking on IGZO as the revival of it's fortunes.

Funny, nothing about MFP's to help get Sharp out of the mess it's in.
Sharp to Book $311 Million Charge as 2,960 Workers Accept Buyout

Sharp Corp. (6753), the world’s worst- performing major stock, will book a 25.3 billion yen ($311 million) one-time charge this quarter to eliminate jobs.

The charge, for 2,960 workers who accepted buyout offers, is already factored into earnings forecasts for the year ending March 31, Osaka, Japan-based Sharp said in a statement today. Sharp, which sought about 2,000 voluntary retirements, closed the offer Nov. 9, it said.

Japan’s biggest liquid-crystal display maker said Nov. 1 it may post a record net loss of 450 billion yen this fiscal year, compared with its earlier projection for a 250 billion yen deficit. Faced with falling demand for TVs, a stronger yen and competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., Japanese electronics makers including Sharp, Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. (6752) have resorted to closing factories, eliminating jobs and cutting costs to revive profit.

Sharp fell 1.7 percent to 172 yen in Tokyo trading today, extending its loss this year to 74 percent, the worst performer among more than 1,600 companies in the MSCI World Index (MXWO) of developed nations.

The company’s turnaround plan includes seeking voluntary retirements, cutting salaries, selling assets and reducing capital investments, Sharp said Nov. 1.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at myasu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net
Sharp's early retirement program becomes oversubscribed

Sharp's earlier retirement program aimed to let go 2,000 Japanese staff, and yet 3,000 have taken the firm up on its offer.


The electronics giant has been in financial trouble for some time now. Knowing this, what member of staff -- who potentially is at an age that gaining another job easily would be difficult -- wouldn't take the opportunity to leave the ailing firm and be financially compensated?

The voluntary retirement program, announced in August, would give staff at the firm and its main subsidies in Japan the option to stop work voluntarily. Sharp's original estimates suggested that roughly 2,000 employees would be induced to take voluntary retirement.

However, the company has had to shorten the application deadline by a week as the scheme quickly became oversubscribed. In total, 2,960 Sharp employees have taken the deal, each of whom will retire on December 15 2012.

The expense, 25.3 billion yen ($3.11bn) will be recorded as an extraordinary loss for the third quarter ending March 31 2013.

Reports suggest that the consumer electronics firm is in talks with Qualcomm and Intel in order to receive a joint investment worth $378 million dollars. The firm has doubled its full-year net loss forecast to $5.7 billion, and says that it has "serious doubts" about survival.

http://www.zdnet.com/sharps-ea...bscribed-7000007650/
Sharp Corp has agreed to sell three of its overseas factories to Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) for about ¥55 billion (US$667 million), Sankei newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The television assembly plants are located in Mexico, Malaysia and Nanjing, China, and sale procedures will start as early as this month, Sankei reported.

Sharp said last month there was “material doubt” about its ability to survive after forecasting a record ¥450 billion, full-year loss on falling demand for its display panels.

Sharp, the maker of Aquos televisions, is selling assets and seeking investment as it cuts salaries and jobs, and offers voluntary retirements as a part of a turnaround plan.
In July, Sharp sold a stake in an LCD factory in Sakai, central Japan, to Foxconn, who will jointly operate the 10th-generation facility, the industry’s most advanced.

Sharp’s talks with Foxconn over a capital tie-up may continue beyond a March deadline, Sharp said last month. Earlier this year, the two reached a preliminary agreement on Foxconn buying a 9.9 percent stake in the Japanese electronics maker for ¥550 a share, or ¥67 billion.

SHARES PLUMMET
Negotiations on a final price have yet to be completed as Sharp’s market value declined almost 75 percent this year, to close yesterday at ¥172 per share.

Sharp president Takashi Okuda said on Nov. 1 that the company is considering various partnership options. Kyodo News said on Nov. 13 that Sharp was in final talks with Intel Corp to receive an investment of as much as ¥40 billion, while the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday that the company is in talks with Dell Inc to arrange a capital investment of US$240 million.

Sharp hemorrhaged ¥103 billion in cash from operations in the first half of the year. The company may turn to the Japanese government for a bailout, analysts said last month.
Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest contract electronics maker, declined Sunday to comment on a Japanese newspaper report that said Sharp has agreed to sell its three overseas TV factories to Hon Hai.

The Sankei Shimbun cited anonymous sources that it claimed are familiar with the matter as saying that Sharp has reached a 55 billion yen (US$1.83 billion) deal with Hon Hai to sell its three factories in Mexico, China and Malaysia.

According to the report, Hon Hai is most interested in Sharp's Mexico plant.

In late November, Hon Hai also declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that said Sharp is open to Hon Hai's possible acquisition of a stake in the Japanese firm.

Sharp owns four overseas TV plants, but the supposed Hon Hai transaction will not include its factory in Poland, the report said.

Since this year, the market capitalization of Sharp has shrunk by 75 percent.

It has suffered a lack of funds this year, listing US$1.1 billion-worth of restructuring charges in the third quarter. Sharp last month almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to 450 billion yen.

Meanwhile, Hon Hai has recently launched 60-inch LED TVs that use flat panels produced at Sharp's 10th-generation plant located in western Japan, in which Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou holds a 46.5 percent stake.

(By Chung Jung-feng and Hanna Liu)
ENDITEM/J
(Reuters) - Sharp Corp and Qualcomm Inc reached a deal to jointly develop an energy-efficient LCD panel for smartphones using the Japanese company's display technology, the Nikkei reported.

Sharp will provide its indium-gallium-zinc oxide technology, which greatly reduces a panel's power use. Full details are expected to be announced as early as Tuesday, the daily said.

Sharp will receive 5 billion yen ($61 million) from the U.S. chipmaker by the end of this year through a private placement of new shares. Sharp will receive an additional 5 billion yen or so once sufficient progress has been made, the newspaper reported.

A 10 billion yen investment would give Qualcomm a roughly 5 percent stake in Sharp based on Sharp's Monday closing price, the daily noted.

Qualcomm and Sharp representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Sharp, which pioneered LCD technology, has lost three-quarters of its market value this year following massive losses and falling market share.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
TOKYO – Qualcomm will invest $120 million in the struggling Japanese electronics giant Sharp, throwing a fresh lifeline to the company after Sharp issued a dire warning last month about its ability to keep operating.

In a statement, Sharp, the maker of Aquos televisions, said it would issue 4.9 billion yen ($59.7 million) worth of new shares to Qualcomm at 164 yen a share, a slight discount to the company’s closing share price on Tuesday. Sharp said it had secured a second investment of up to 5 billion yen from Qualcomm, which is based in San Diego.

The initial investment is likely to make Qualcomm Sharp’s biggest shareholder, with a 2.65 percent stake, Reuters said. According to the statement, the two manufacturers will develop liquid crystal displays based on a new technology that Sharp has touted called IGZO, which the company says is more energy efficient, offers crisper resolution and allows for more sensitive touch screens.

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Documents: Qualcomm news release
Sharp, based in Osaka, Japan, has been hurt by heavy losses in its flat-panel display business, which has been pummeled by intense competition from the likes of Samsung Electronics of South Korea.

The company’s woes, called the “Sharp Shock” in Japan, have underscored a wider decline of Japanese consumer electronics companies in the face of a painfully strong yen, a plunge in prices from cutthroat global competition and a dearth of breakthrough ideas.

Sharp announced this year that it planned to accept a 67 billion yen investment from Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology, but a deal has become less certain as its financial woes have deepened and its share price has plummeted.

Sharp, also a supplier of screens for Apple products, has eliminated jobs for the first time in six decades and put up its corporate headquarters as collateral to secure a 360 billion yen bank bailout in September.

Despite the bailout, Sharp said last month that there was “material doubt” over its ability to survive after forecasting a record 450 billion yen loss for the year through March, though it vowed to take steps against such an outcome. Sharp’s president, Takashi Okuda, said at the time that the company was exploring partnerships.

Since then, news reports had linked Sharp with technology companies including Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Google and Apple. Sharp denied those reports, saying nothing had been decided.

Shares in Sharp gained 1.2 percent, to 174 yen, in Tokyo on Tuesday after the Nikkei business daily reported details of the deal. Sharp’s stock has lost three-quarters of its value this year.
Hon Hai's Gou says talks on investment in Sharp still on: paper


(Reuters) - Qualcomm's tie-up with Sharp Corp will not affect Hon Hai Precision's talks with the Japanese firm to become its biggest shareholder and the deadline to reach a decision by next March still stands, a Taiwan newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting Hon Hai's chairman.

Terry Gou, chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry, a major supplier of parts to Apple Inc, was mentioned by the United Evening News as saying the Taiwan firm's talks to get an up to 9.9 percent stake will not change even though the cash injection from Qualcomm will give the U.S. chipmaker a 5 percent stake in Sharp.

Gou reiterated that he expects to reach a decision with Sharp before March 2013, the Chinese-language newspaper reported.

Sharp's talks with Hon Hai to renegotiate its investment have stalled in the past few months as the Japanese company's losses have mounted.

A Hon Hai executive, when contacted by Reuters on Wednesday, said that the talks are still on and the price Hon Hai will pay Sharp was yet to be agreed on by both companies.

(Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Sharp has mortgaged nearly all its properties to secure a $4.6 billion bailout from Japanese banks and so has few assets to offer in a grand garage sale.

Instead, it's selling part of the garage.

Qualcomm has agreed to buy a 5 percent stake in Sharp, making it the largest shareholder. Hon Hai, which earlier this year agreed to invest in Sharp - before its stock slumped in the wake of record losses - has said it remains interested in taking a stake.

"Whatever they can get to get through this fiscal period by scaling down their operation is a critical step for them to remain afloat," said Fitch's Lim.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/tv/new...illion-report-303387
Sharp Corp. (6753), Japan’s worst- performing major stock, rose the most in at least 38 years in Tokyo trading as concerns the company can’t pay its debts eased.

Sharp surged as much as 24 percent, the biggest gain since at least 1974, and traded at 325 yen at the 11:30 a.m. break, heading for the highest close since July 13. Sharp has declined 52 percent this year, the biggest drop on Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY), which has gained 18 percent.

The TV maker, which said last month there was “material doubt” about its ability to survive, reached an agreement this month to sell as much as 9.9 billion yen ($118 million) of shares to San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) Sharp turned to the biggest maker of mobile-phone chips after failing to get a planned 67 billion-yen investment from Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and hemorrhaging 103 billion yen in cash from operations in the fiscal first half.

“There was an investment from Qualcomm and a report on getting more banks for its lending plan,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. in Tokyo, said today. “That’s clearing some of the concerns over Sharp’s ability to repay debt. It seems more attention is focused on possible earnings improvements than on bankruptcy risks.”

Sharp warned Nov. 1 about its ability to survive after forecasting a record 450 billion-yen, full-year loss because of sluggish demand for its panels. The company posted a record 376 billion-yen loss in the fiscal year ended March 31.

Cutting Jobs
Japan’s largest liquid-crystal-display maker has 395 billion yen of notes outstanding, including 200 billion yen of convertible bonds due September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bonds were quoted at 77.15 yen per 100 yen face value as of 11:16 a.m. in Tokyo today, the highest level since Aug. 30, according to Tokyo Stock Exchange prices.

Resona Holdings Inc. (8308) will join Japanese lenders offering 360 billion yen of emergency loans to Sharp, three bank officials with knowledge of the matter said Dec. 11.

Sharp, which is cutting more than 10,000 jobs, secured 180 billion yen in collateralized loans through its main lenders Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., it said Sept. 28. Osaka-based Sharp also got a 180 billion-yen credit facility that expires at the end of June.

Fitch Ratings cut Sharp’s credit rating to junk last month, saying it doesn’t foresee “any meaningful operational turnaround in the company’s core business over the short- to medium term.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at myasu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net
BrightWire, a business-to-business resource for portfolio managers, is reporting this morning that a report published by Tokyo's daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun is stating that Sharp has officially ended small to mid-sized IGZO LCD panel supply to Apple due to low profitability. At this time it's difficult to assess whether their public reasoning is factual or just a face saving measure due to Apple dumping the IGZO display due to production delays.

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