Sony on track for $3 billion savings
Corporation has made "good progress" in cost-cutting exercise, says Stringer
Sony Corporation is on track to deliver the targeted JPY 300 billion (USD 3 billion) in savings as part of the corporation's restructuring efforts to return to profitability.
The news came during the company's annual shareholder meeting, following plans announced at the end of last year - and updated in May this year - to close around eight manufacturing plants and slash 16,000 jobs.
"We're making good progress in our restructuring efforts and expect to save over JPY 300 billion in cost reductions in fiscal 2009," said the corporation's CEO Sir Howard Stringer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"I can tell you we believe business is improving, and we hope to improve shareholder value in the months ahead," he added. "We're working on profit recovery and growth strategy, that's what we're committed to."
Sony's financial release in May headlined with a USD 1 billion loss blamed on "factors including the slowdown of the global economy, the appreciation of the yen and the decline in the Japanese stock market."
The corporation's share price was up 2 per cent to JPY 2525 (USD 26.09) at the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.