Wiping Out Losses: Sharp to cut 5k jobs for $1.7b bailout

TOKYO: Japan’s Sharp Corporation is considering using capital to reduce accumulated losses on its book, an accounting manoeuvre that would allow the loss-making electronics maker to resume dividend payment earlier, a source said on Saturday. The Osaka-based maker of LCD displays is set to receive a $1.7 billion bailout from its main lenders in return for a promise to cut 5,000 jobs and split off its ailing smartphone display unit, a separate source told Reuters. As a result of restructuring, the company is expected to report losses of more than ¥200 billion ($1.67 billion) for the year ended in March, on top of combined ¥900 billion losses in the previous three years. A company that has been making profits has retained earnings from past years and it can use the money for dividend pay-out for shareholders.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2015.

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