* Panasonic slumps 18 pct after huge net loss forecast
* TDK and Fujifilm fall after cutting their outlook
* Sources say Sharp sees bigger net loss for 2012/13
* Softbank, Murata Manufacturing beat expectations in Q2
By Dominic Lau
TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average lost
some ground on Thursday, with Panasonic Corp tumbling
by nearly a fifth after it forecasted huge losses for a second
straight year, while profit warnings from TDK Corp and
others also weighed.
But the damage was comparatively light, with the Nikkei
easing just 0.5 percent to 8,887.78 below its five-day
moving average, helped by better-than-expected results from the
likes of mobile operator Softbank Corp.
“It’s quite clear that the earnings have been characterised
by sharp downward revision in exporters or companies that were
expecting a second-half recovery,” said Stefan Worrall, director
of equity cash sales at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.
“The reaction to many of these revisions are actually not
that negative,” he said, adding that market had been pricing in
bad numbers for a while.
Consumer electronics firm Panasonic plunged 18.5 percent and
was the most-traded stock on the main board by turnover. It
forecast a net loss of almost $10 billion for this business
year, nearly matching last year’s record net loss, as it seeks
to clean house with writedowns.
If Panasonic shares were to finish the day at current
losses, they would hit their lowest close since 1978, data from
Thomson Reuters Datastream showed.
Company earnings remain weak this quarterly reporting
season, with 56 percent of the 64 Nikkei companies that have
reported undershooting market expectations, according to Thomson
Reuters StarMine. That compared with 54 percent in the previous
quarter.
Among companies that issued profit warnings, TDK sank 6.4
percent and Fujifilm Holdings Corp lost 4.7 percent.
Sharp Corp shed 2.9 percent after two sources said
the struggling TV maker is planning to revise its full-year net
loss forecast to 450 billion yen from a previous outlook for a
250 billion yen loss.
But Softbank posted second-quarter operating profit ahead of
expectations, and its shares rose 3.8 percent.
Mazda Motor Corp cut its earnings outloook but
surged 5.3 percent as its revised full-year operating profit
forecast of 25 billion yen was ahead of a market consensus of 23
billion yen.
The benchmark Nikkei is up 5.1 percent this year but lags
behind a 12.3 percent rise in the S&P; 500 and a 10.5 percent
gain in the pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Finance, foreign investors
turned net sellers of Japanese stocks last week, with a net sell
of 15.4 billion yen of shares, after a week of net buying.
The broader Topix index fell 0.5 percent to 738.70
on Thursday morning.
Other gainers lending support to the market included Murata
Manufacturing Co Ltd, which climbed 5.3 percent after
the Apple Inc supplier’s second-quarter operating
profit came in above the market consensus.
