‘Green’ Incentives in Japan Boosted Sharp’s 2009 Bottom Line
Japanese government “eco-points” subsidies to buyers of green CE products there put Sharp’s bottom-line back in the black in fiscal 2009, compared with the red-ink recorded in the year-ago period. The subsidies coincided with Sharp’s introduction of LED-backlit LCD TVs, LED home-lighting, other low power-consumption products and boosted production of solar-energy panels for mobile devices and residential use, the company said Tuesday. Sales were better in Japan than elsewhere. “Though sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders and LCD TVs for the Japanese market were strong, sales of LCD TVs for overseas markets declined,” Sharp said.
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It’s the first Japanese CE maker we've seen to highlight its green efforts in a financial statement. “We took steps to … becoming an Eco-Positive Company that contributes to realizing a low-carbon society, with environmentally-friendly plants, and energy-creating and energy-saving technology,” Sharp said before crunching the numbers.
Profit was 4.4 billion yen ($46.8 million) for the year ended March 31, compared with a 126 billion yen loss in fiscal 2008, Sharp said. Operating income also improved, to 52 billion yen ($553 million) vs. a 56 billion yen loss a year ago. Revenue declined, mostly for currency exchange reasons, Sharp said. It posted 2.8 trillion yen in sales ($29.3 billion), down 3.2 percent from fiscal 2008. The currency values are based on the 94 yen to $1 exchange rate on March 31.
Demand for LCD panels for its own products and its OEM customers was a big factor in its 2009 performance, Sharp said. It made more than 10 million LCD TVs last year, and plans to boost production 50 percent to 15 million in fiscal 2010 that ends March 31, 2011. That partly will be driven by demand for 3D-ready displays, Sharp said. It will begin 3D TV sales in Japan by summer. Although it has been a late-comer to the 3D market, “We will work to launch 3D LCD TVs that incorporate our proprietary LCD technology … to enhance our competitiveness in the global market,” Sharp said. It supplies the glasses-free auto-stereoscopic technology for Nintendo’s hand-held game consoles. For fiscal 2010, Sharp forecast a 50 billion yen profit and 120 billion yen operating profit on 3.1 trillion yen in revenue.