Sony to Cut Executives’ Pay This Year After Four Straight Losses
Sony Corp. (6758) will cut the salaries of Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai and directors after Japan’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics lost 856 billion yen during the past four years.
Payments to executives including Hirai will be reduced, Mami Imada, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman, said by phone today. She declined to elaborate. The company paid 799 million yen ($10 million) in salaries to 21 executives and directors in the year ended in March, it said in a statement today.
Seven corporate executive officers returned their bonuses for the year ended March 31, Sony said in a statement to shareholders today. Once a trendsetter with products such as the Walkman, Sony’s losses have mounted after customers switched to Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) TVs and Apple Inc. iPhones, pushing the shares below 1,000 yen yesterday for the first time since 1980.
Hirai took over as CEO in April from Howard Stringer and predicted a return to profit this year.
Sony will seek shareholder approval for a new board, consisting of 14 members, at a June 27 meeting, the company said in the statement. Hirai also is seeking to become a board member.
The Tokyo-based company, cutting 10,000 jobs as part of a turnaround plan, has forecast making a profit of 30 billion yen in the year ending March 31. Last year, the company had a record 457 billion-yen loss.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at myasu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net.
Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Corp.
Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Corp. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Dickie Chang, a senior market analyst at research company IDC, talks about Sony Corp.'s business outlook. Sony fell to the lowest in more than 31 years in Tokyo trading after forecasting a profit that lagged behind analyst estimates amid slumping sales of its televisions and PlayStation 3 game consoles. Chang speaks with Zeb Eckert on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Nitin Soni, associate director at Fitch Ratings, discusses the outlook for Sony Corp. after the company forecast annual profit that was less than half of what analysts estimated. He speaks from Singapore with Maryam Nemazee on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Seijiro Takeshita, a director at Mizuho International Plc, talks about Sony Corp. He speaks from London with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg)
Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., center, with other company executives at a news conference in Tokyo on April 12, 2012.
Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., center, with other company executives at a news conference in Tokyo on April 12, 2012. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
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