Slump hits Hitachi figures across the board

Hitachi has turned in a whopping Y142.23 billion (around £750 million) consolidated loss for its first half, to the end of September, and blames the unprecedentedly bad figures on a combination of memory price falls and collapsing domestic demand in Japan. The company's semiconductor business lost Y60 billion, compared with Y20 billion the previous year, and the red ink is by no means under control - Hitachi reckons it will lose Y110 billion on semiconductors over the whole financial year. But Hitachi sales dropped everywhere, with LCD and TV tubes hit by competitive pressure, household appliance sales down and industrial and electrical systems whacked by the slump in Japan. Overall, the company posted a group operating loss of Y39.93 billion, compared to sa profit of Y146.80 billion the previous year. ®