Stockholm, Sweden’s chief executive office explains how her country became a leader in reducing GHG emissions and an economically competitive success.

Sony warned it would post a record $2.9 billion annual operating loss due to sliding demand and a stronger yen, and unveiled fresh restructuring steps to revive its ailing electronics operations. The operating loss will be Sony’s first in 14 years, underscoring deepening troubles for a company that has fallen behind Apple’s iPod in portable music and Nintendo in videogames, and is losing money on flat TVs.

“Sony needs further restructuring, not just cost-cutting but a revamping of its business operations,” said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

Sony said it now expects an operating loss of 260 billion yen for the year to March, down from an earlier projection for a 200 billion yen profit and far worse than earlier media estimates of a loss of 100 billion yen.

The maker of Bravia LCD TVs and PlayStation game consoles said it would respond by accelerating restructuring, more than doubling a cost-cutting target for the year to March 2010 to 250 billion yen.

Sony said it would end TV production and design operations at one plant in Japan and consolidate those operations into another factory in the country. It plans to cut headcount by 30 percent in operations related to TV design worldwide.

Other measures include consolidation of resources for batteries and small and medium-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, and pay cuts for directors and managers.

It expects restructuring charges to total 170 billion through the year to March 2010.

Last month Sony outlined a restructuring plan that included curbing investment, closing five to six plants and cutting a total of 16,000 regular and contract jobs globally to save 100 billion yen a year in costs.

But Sony’s management, led by chief executive Howard Stringer, faced criticism from analysts and investors who said more drastic measures were needed to streamline a sprawling empire that includes semiconductors, movies and insurance.

“Sony has to consider ways to lower fixed costs not only for its TV business but for the whole company. It will have to start cutting development costs in addition to production costs,” said Nomura Securities senior analyst Eiichi Katayama.

Sony attributed 340 billion of the 460 billion swing in its operating forecast to its core electronics division, as the slowing global economy depresses demand for its digital cameras, video recorders and flat TVs.

But it has also been hurt by the slide in the Japanese stock market, which sliced into the value of securities held by its financial unit. Slower sales in its game and movie divisions have also hit its results.

Illustrating the problems Sony faces, Japanese exports plunged 35 percent in December from a year earlier, with electronics sales to China and other parts of Asia among the worst affected as Western orders to Asian assembly plants dry up. The yen rallied nearly 20 percent against the dollar last year and hit a 13-year high of 87.10 on Wednesday.

Sony is not the only electronics maker suffering.

Rival Samsung Electronics this month reorganized itself into two major groups in response to the global downturn, while Panasonic has also cut its outlook and stepped up restructuring measures. Sony’s shares closed down 2.6 percent at 1,938 yen ahead of the revision, underperforming a 1.9 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei average.

Story Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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The Canadian Press – MONTREAL – Bell Canada is being conservative in rewarding shareholders because of uncertainty in financial markets as it works to improve its wireless broadband services and accelerate its fibre optic investments, BCE (TSX:BCE) chief executive said Friday.

Canada’s largest telecom company will focus more on paying dividends than repaying debt now that its blockbuster takeover has died, but Cope said BCE will also spend millions on the new ventures and to upgrade its service.

“Seventy to 80 per cent of all of our capital is going to those broadband initiatives and initiatives that improve service and very little is going to some of our legacy investments,” Cope said in an interview.

While he said Bell has already spent $2.5 billion on capital, Cope declined to specify how much more can be expected next year.

Rolling out an expanded fibre network would extend its leadership in high definition TV and could eventually pave the way for introduction of Internet television, he added.

Cope said Bell’s overarching strategy is to lead the market in customer service, which will translate into generating sales that will consistently grow cash flow and increased dividends.

“We’re being prudent in terms of making sure we have a balance sheet that is prepared for whatever the capital markets may bring us over the next 12 to 18 months, which everyone would acknowledge is a little uncertain,” Cope said from Toronto.

Bell has $1.5 billion in bonds maturing in 2009 and more in 2010.

Cope acknowledged that reinstating its quarterly dividend of 36.5 cents and repurchasing just five per cent of its stock, or about 40 million shares, was less than some had anticipated.

“We think it’s the prudent one given the market environment,” he said.

The dividend was cut earlier this year, saving hundreds of millions of dollars, as the company tried to shore up its finances and pay down debt ahead of the takeover.

The reinstated dividend yields 6.88 per cent at Friday’s closing share price of $21.23, down 80 cents or 3.63 per cent on the TSX session.

Payment of the first dividend since the collapse of takeover deal by an investor group led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will take place Jan. 15 to shareholders of record on Dec. 23.

BCE also scheduled what is likely to be a much-watched 2007 annual meeting of shareholders on Feb. 17 in Montreal. A second meeting for the 2008 year is expected later in the spring.

Although largely anticipated, the announcements disappointed analysts who had expected a larger dividend and a more aggressive stock repurchase.

Troy Crandall of MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier had conservatively estimated 65 million shares would be repurchased. Others had foreseen 100 million

“I’m somewhat disappointed on the share buy back,” he said in an interview. “That does put a drag on EPS growth in 2009.”

A bigger concern, however, is the company’s delays in unveiling its overall strategy to grow Bell as a public company.

Greg MacDonald of National Bank Financial said the company needs to spend more time and resources on its wireline business to better compete with cable.

“Telephone companies are slipping further behind. You need to have a firm plan and you need to commit capital dollars,” he said in an interview.

Little additional spending is expected in wireless. Bell has already committed to upgrade its network in co-operation with Telus (TSX:T). Telus has indicated its share of the costs are $750 million next year.

MacDonald said he doesn’t foresee Bell immediately selling sizable assets, such as Bell Aliant (TSX:BA.UN), although CTVglobemedia could be sold.

While the takeover was scuttled by KPMG’s insolvency opinion, Cope denied that Bell made mistakes such as challenging the contesting bondholders all the way to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t think we wasted time anywhere. We really believed the transaction was going to close,” he said, adding he’s not aware of any time that the banks funding the transaction wavered from their commitments.

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