Hitachi Ltd. said Thursday it anticipates a consolidated net loss of 480 billion yen for the 2001 business year, up from 230 billion yen forecast in October.
The revision is due to larger-than-expected costs, the company said in a statement, pointing to restructuring costs of 134 billion yen, additional retirement allowances of 146 billion yen and a valuation loss of 84 billion yen on securities holdings.
The revised earnings forecast also includes a consolidated pretax loss of 580 billion yen, up from 215 billion yen, and group sales of 7.8 trillion yen, down from 7.9 trillion yen.
Hitachi said it will not achieve profit and sales targets in electronic devices, communications equipment, construction equipment and other divisions due to weak demand for information technology-related products and stagnant domestic economic activity.
On a parent-only basis, it anticipates a pretax loss of 96 billion yen, up from 50 billion yen in October, and a net loss of 246 billion yen, up from 70 billion yen, on sales of 3.49 trillion yen, down from 3.47 trillion yen.
Hitachi, which paid an interim dividend of 3 yen per share for the year, will forgo yearend dividends, it said. It paid a yearend dividend of 5.5 yen per share the pervious year.
As part of restructuring aimed at achieving a rapid recovery in fiscal 2002, Hitachi will cut 20,930 jobs -- 15,100 in Japan and 5,830 abroad -- by the end of June through attrition, an early retirement program, and closure or reduction of unprofitable overseas operations, including production of cathode-ray tubes in the United States.
In October, Hitachi said it planned to cut 15,900 jobs by the end of March 2002.
The company said it will reduce managers' pay by an average of 5 percent in fiscal 2002. It will also reduce directors' pay, including a 20 percent pay cut for the chairman and president.