 Sony reshuffle unlikely to turn tide
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-03 08:07
Shares of Sony Corp outperformed those of its rivals in a sliding market yesterday, as CEO Howard Stringer's move to directly oversee the electronics arm at the center of the firm's problems raised investor hopes for speedier restructuring. But market players said the management reshuffle alone, which saw Stringer replace Sony's president with himself, was unlikely to put the company back on a growth path, and they were waiting for new products and reforms to show the firm was heading in the right direction. Current President Ryoji Chubachi, the current Sony No 2 and head of the electronics division making Bravia flat TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Handycam camcorders, will become vice chairman in the reshuffle announced on Friday. It is the latest in a series of management changes at Japan's top exporters in recent months including Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co Ltd as they grapple with a widening recession. "Eliminating layers and rebuilding a system so that he can lead the business himself is not a bad decision," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "Now it's up to Stringer's capacity as a top-down manager. If he can lead the company effectively, recovery would be quicker." Sony, which runs a long way behind Apple Inc's iPod in portable music and Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii in video games, is set to post an record operating loss of 260 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for the year to March 31, with problems in its electronics unit largely to blame. Shares in Sony closed down 0.5 percent at 1,660 yen, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index, which lost 3.2 percent. Sony stock fell 69 percent in calendar 2008, compared with a 54 percent decline in the subindex. Nikko Citigroup raised its rating on Sony to "buy/high risk" from "hold/high risk," citing expectations for accelerated restructuring, and it raised its target price for Sony shares 5 percent to 2,200 yen from 2,100 yen. Agencies (China Daily 03/03/2009 page16) |
