Japan Display, Inc., the largest manufacturer of LCD displays for smartphones and tablets in Japan, launched their initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday this week amid great anticipation. It was a big listing – with a total value of $3.2 billion, it was the biggest IPO since Suntory’s food-and-beverage unit raised $3.9 billion in 2013.
Financial
JVC Kenwood’s Early Retirement Solicitation Falls Short of Goal
JVC Kenwood Corporation announced the final results of their voluntary early retirement solicitation first announced late last year. This solicitation was offered as part of a comprehensive effort to turn around the company’s flagging fortunes and included many steps to cut overhead and improve profitability – such as this effort to cut employment by incentivizing employees to leave the company.
Did their program succeed? See the results below… [Read more…] about JVC Kenwood’s Early Retirement Solicitation Falls Short of Goal
Nortek Reports Uneven Fiscal Results; With A/V Biz in Decline, Security is TECH Segment’s Rising Star
SEC Filings Reveal Serious Decline in 2013 Sales of A/V Lines
Nortek, Inc., a Rhode Island-based diversified manufacturer of a variety of environmental and technology products for home and business, announced its financial performance for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 on Tuesday and conducted a conference call with analysts Wednesday morning. Nortek is the parent company of Core Brands, a group of eleven A/V brands that have a significant impact on the custom integration business – and, for this reason, we follow them closely.
The company saw sales increases for both the quarter and the year; however, it booked a net loss for both periods, suggesting that its previously announced restructuring plan is still a work-in-progress.
See more on the company’s overall performance, as well as the unsettling news we heard about the TECH division, which includes Core Brands…
AVAD Hit by Significant Layoffs Associated with Ingram Micro Restructuring
BREAKING NEWS
In a story that has largely flown under the radar in our industry but is being widely discussed at street level, Ingram Micro has announced plans it calls its “global organizational effectiveness program” that, among other things, calls for substantial layoffs in its North American operations. These layoffs will hit a division that is one of our industry’s largest distributors of custom integration products, known to most of us as AVAD.
Details of the restructuring are incomplete…but what we know so far appears sobering… [Read more…] about AVAD Hit by Significant Layoffs Associated with Ingram Micro Restructuring
Bain Capital Seeks to Restructure D&M Holdings Buyout Financing – It Could be Tough
Reuters reported this week that Bain Capital, the private equity company that virtually became a household name when CEO Mitt Romney ran for president against Barack Obama, is seeking to refinance the buyout financing it used to acquire D&M Holdings, Inc., also known as the D+M Group. It’s not going to be easy.
See what Bain Capital is up against in their goal of restructuring their D&M buyout debt… [Read more…] about Bain Capital Seeks to Restructure D&M Holdings Buyout Financing – It Could be Tough
Sony Cuts Get Deeper – A Third of U.S. Staff to be Cut; 20 Sony Stores Will Close
Although not a surprise, Sony Electronics in San Diego began releasing details of a substantial cutback in U.S. facilities and personnel. The company says it will cut 33% of its U.S. staff – about 1,000 employees. Also, the company announced a major retreat from retail as it will close 20 of its 31 total Sony Store locations.
See more on this significant Sony restructuring… [Read more…] about Sony Cuts Get Deeper – A Third of U.S. Staff to be Cut; 20 Sony Stores Will Close
Yamaha Announces Financial Results Through Fiscal Third Quarter – It’s All Good
Yamaha Corp., likely heaving a sigh of relief, announced their financial results for the 9-month period through the fiscal third quarter (April 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013) with almost all good news. Showing significant sales and profit gains, the musical instrument and electronics manufacturer benefited from positive currency exchange rates…and lower overhead due to previous cost-cutting efforts.
See Yamaha’s results below – results good enough for the company to raise its dividend… [Read more…] about Yamaha Announces Financial Results Through Fiscal Third Quarter – It’s All Good
Sony, Finally Making Its Move, Puts the Computer Biz Up for Sale; TV Biz is Next Target for Shake-Up
The Nikkei reported this week that Sony Corp. has finally taken a bold step to reorganize its business by putting its VAIO computer division up for sale. According to the report, the company is in negotiation to offload the division to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), a Japanese investment company.
See why this move makes sense…and why their TV division is the next target for a shake-up… [Read more…] about Sony, Finally Making Its Move, Puts the Computer Biz Up for Sale; TV Biz is Next Target for Shake-Up
With Huge Increase in Fiscal YTD Net Loss – JVC Kenwood Moves to Cut Staff & Buy a Company
JVC Kenwood Corporation released their year-to-date results for the first nine months (April 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013) of the current fiscal year at the end of last week. The results clearly portrayed a company in a struggle to turn their flagging business around. Although 9-month sales showed a 2.6% increase to ¥230.3 billion ($2.3 billion), up from ¥224.5 billion ($2.2 billion) last year…the company also booked a net loss that also increased more than four-fold – from ¥1.4 billion ($13.8 million) last year to ¥5.7 billion ($55.7 million) now.
See more on both JVC Kenwood’s results…and their moves to rectify the situation… [Read more…] about With Huge Increase in Fiscal YTD Net Loss – JVC Kenwood Moves to Cut Staff & Buy a Company
It’s Official, Moody’s Says Sony is ‘Junk’
In a move that has been highly anticipated or, depending on your point of view, highly dreaded, Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating on Sony Corp. by one notch, dropping it below investment grade – taking it to “junk” status, in industry parlance. The downgrade was made on Monday and it is significant in that it symbolizes the continuing struggles of the company as it to tries to improve its fortunes – so far with mixed results.
