Yen slide? Tick. Turnround plan or change of management under way? Tick and tick. Then why is Sharp still sliding while its peers rebound?
Its shares have lost more than a quarter in value to date this year and it is the worst performer by far among its Japanese cohorts in the benchmark Topix electrical appliances index. The next worst performer, Mitsubishi Electric, has fallen just 7 per cent and household name rivals – Canon, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba – have gained more than a fifth, on average, boosted by the yen’s fall.
Sharp’s problem is the opposite of that faced by its sprawling rivals. They are too diverse for investors – or their management – to master fully. But Sharp has focused more on liquid crystal display screens, a segment that has struggled. Sharp derives three-fifths of its sales from LCDs and its audio visual division, which includes its own-brand LCD TVs as well as other items. By contrast, Hitachi lists 10 diverse business lines and still “other” accounts for a tenth of sales.