Fujitsu reports flat sales and reduced profits

Third quarter sales at Fujitsu were stagnant at 1,166.9bn yen when compared to the same three months last year. Although revenue in Japan declined by 1.5 percent, sales outside Japan were up 1.2 percent.

But overall operating profit was 14bn yen, down 19.1bn yen on the previous year. Fujitsu said this was mainly down to 17.6bn yen it spent on “business model transformation expenses” in the EMEIA region.

This includes the costs of closing a product development facility in Europe. For the full year, Fujitsu is reducing its overall forecasts for both revenue and profit.

Top line sales forecasts have been reduced by 80bn yen to 4,800bn yen based on reduced expectations for Technology Solutions sales and lower demand for Device Solutions. The overall operating profit forecast has been reduced by 20bn yen to 130bn yen, although the Services profit forecast has been upped.

Fujitsu has also announced that Robert Pryor, CEO for the Americas, has resigned. Kate Hanaghan, an analyst at TechMarketView, said: “We understand the region will now be run by Duncan Tait, current CEO of EMEIA. Tait has really made his mark on Fujitsu since joining from Unisys in 2009. He has introduced a more functional structure within Europe.”

Last November, Fujitsu launched a “major campaign” aimed at making storage easier for partners to sell, offering cashback deals to end user customers and giving partners the potential to earn additional margins to help drive immediate sales.

@AntonySavvas