Taiwan AU's profit plunges 42 percent in 2006
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Taiwan's AU Optronics, the world's third biggest flat-panel maker, has reported a net profit of 9.1 billion dollars for 2006, down nearly 42 percent, on the back of declining prices.
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Toll Brothers said its first-quarter profit fell 67 percent as a result of lower sales, write-downs and other costs.
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Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top auto  maker, posted a 37 percent fall in quarterly profit on Monday,  pressured by weaker domestic sales, a strong won currency and  high raw material costs.
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Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics conglomerate, said on Wednesday its quarterly profit fell nearly by half due to price falls in plasma TVs and other electronics goods, and cut its full-year outlook.
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The manufacturer said earnings fell 54 percent from a year-ago period which included its former health-care and electronics units. Adjusted profit topped Wall Street expectations by a wide margin.
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The company said profit from continuing operations fell to $614 million as weak demand for calculators outweighed improving sales of advanced phones that use its chips.
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Japanese chips-to-computers conglomerate  Fujitsu Ltd. on Friday reported a 53 percent slide in quarterly  operating profit amid falling flat-panel prices, and lowered  its full-year forecast.
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Japanese electronics maker Hitachi slashed its full-year profit forecast because of ballooning costs to repair nuclear reactors and slumping sales of some products, saying Friday it now expects to lose 55 billion yen this year, or about $467.3 million.
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After again posting record earnings for the third quarter, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) expects to see its first sequential drop in fourth-quarter revenues, coupled with a sharp drop in capacity utilization rates.
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Acer Inc., Taiwan's top personal computer maker, said its net profit for the first three quarters to September fell 34.8 percent to 3.83 billion Taiwan dollars (114 million US).
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Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin Books, said on Monday that its net profit dropped by 28.5 percent to 446 million pounds in 2006.
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A&#160;sharp decline in DRAM prices&#160;has caused some Taiwanese DRAM makers to cut back on their capital spending plans this year in a bid to shore up the market.&quot;Right now, there is a huge supply in the market,&quot; said Charles Kau, president of Inotera, during a news conference in Kuei Shan, Taiwan.Prices have dropped so much that its hard for DRAM companies to make money. On Tuesday, Inotera Memories reported an NT$3.7 billion (US$114.3 million) loss for the fourth quarter of 2007. Nanya Technology reported an even larger loss, of NT$8.2 billion, for the same time period.To combat falling prices, Inotera slashed its 2007 spending and will spend far less on new factories and production lines this year. The company spent NT$44 billion last year to install production lines at a new factory in Taiwan. But the spending figure ended up less than the NT$51.4 billion it had proposed to spend earlier in the year. For 2008, Inotera&#39;s spending will drop even more, to NT$30 billion, as it refits production lines with newer technology that makes chips smaller and more powerful.Nanya Technology reduced its 2007 capital spending to NT$47 billion from a projected NT$60 billion. The company started building a new state-of-the-art factory last year, a plant that will increase production throughout this year. In 2008, Nanya plans to spend NT$40 billion.&quot;This year, capital spending discipline is very important,&quot; said Kau. Spending less can help companies shore up their finances. DRAM factories are expensive, costing around US$2.2 billion or more each, depending on the size and projected output. Companies in the industry depend on strong cash flow as well as loans to pay for the factories.A glut has sent DRAM chip prices tumbling. The contract price of 1Gb DDR2 chips that run at 667MHz fell to US$1.81 each as of Jan. 21, according to DRAMeXchange Technology, which operates a clearinghouse for the chips. Prices of the chips were at $3 at the start of October, when the current price slump hit.Executives at Inotera and Nanya Technology&#160;forecast a rebound in prices&#160;in the second half of this year, as PC demand rebounds.&quot;Currently, we&#39;re optimistic about the second half because our customers are optimistic about the second half,&quot; said Pai Pei-lin, a vice president at Nanya Technology. He said he hopes the new service pack for Microsoft&#39;s Vista OS, which is due out shortly, will further spur PC buying and help the DRAM industry rebound. More DRAM chips go into PCs than any other product.
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Asian stocks slid on Monday on gloomy  U.S. jobs data, bleak earnings prospects at tech firms and high  oil prices, while the Australian dollar hit a six-month peak  after the coalition government was swept back to power.
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NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.T), Japan's top  mobile phone operator, said on Wednesday its operating profit  fell 2.4 percent in the nine months to December after it lost  subscribers to rivals but maintained its annual forecast.
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Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics  conglomerate, said on Wednesday its quarterly profit fell  nearly by half due to price falls in plasma TVs and other  electronics goods, and cut its full-year outlook.
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Singapore consumer electronics maker Creative Technology net profit in the September quarter fell 83.5 percent to 4.8 million US dollars, with last year's huge one-time gains magnifying the decline.
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Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Japan's top telecommunications company, reported a 21.8 percent drop in profit for the April-December period Monday due to declines in voice and fixed-line operations.