Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has revised downward its earnings projections for the first half of fiscal 2001, company officials said Friday.
The move was provoked primarily by the declining value of stocks held by the firm and the deteriorating performance of some of its subsidiaries, they said.
According to the revised projections, Matsushita will post consolidated pretax losses of 88 billion yen for the April-September period. In July, the firm had predicted it would post consolidated pretax losses of 65 billion yen for the same period.
The electronics giant also predicts it will log consolidated net losses of 68 billion yen, having previously forecast group net losses of 45 billion yen.
On a parent-only basis, Matsushita revised its net profits projection down to 2.6 billion yen from 9 billion yen.
Amid a global slowdown in the information technology sector, other Japanese firms -- including Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. -- recently revised their earnings forecasts for the current business year and are restructuring their electronic devices operations.
Matsushita will announce its earnings results for the first half of fiscal 2001 on Oct. 30.