ASIA TECHNOLOGY MAY 22, 2009
Lenovo Books Loss, Expects Tough Times for PCs
By JACKIE CHEUNG
Lenovo Group Ltd. swung to a net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter because of hefty restructuring charges and weak demand.
Lenovo, like other global personal-computer makers, has been hurt as the global recession has made consumers reluctant to upgrade their PCs. Lenovo and its major U.S. rivals, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., have restructured in recent months to cut costs.
Lenovo on Thursday posted a net loss of $264 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a net profit of $140 million a year earlier.
The company took a $116 million restructuring charge in the quarter. Sales fell 26% to $2.77 billion.
Lenovo, China's largest PC maker by shipments, said it expects market conditions to remain "very challenging." The company said it expects contraction in the global economy will put continued strain on the commercial and consumer PC markets.
The global recession "has significantly affected the world-wide PC-market demand as many large enterprises delayed purchase decisions" and reduced information-technology budgets, Lenovo said. "Even the growth of the China PC market has slowed."
Still, Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said at a news briefing that he expects the Chinese market to remain Lenovo's main growth driver. He said the company has seen significant improvement in demand in China since the end of the quarter.
Mr. Yang declined to predict when the company will return to profit.
Lenovo booked $146 million in restructuring charges for the fiscal year, mainly for reductions in its work force. Mr. Yang said the company has no plans for further layoffs.
Lenovo reported a $226.4 million loss for the fiscal year, compared with a profit of $484.3 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 8.9% to $14.9 billion.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B4
source: <a href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124290401138442909.html' target='_blank'>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1242904 ... 09.html</a>
swung(swing)
表示某种急速突然的转变，并且与原状态存在相反的表现，此处指急转直下的财务状况
fiscal fourth quarter
第四财季，注意不是fourth fiscal quarter
hefty restructuring charges
a hefty amount of money is a large and impressive amount
hefty用于指钱款时意为极大额度与数量，此处指市场需求低迷、遭遇巨额重组成本
post
与商务有关的意思有登记帐、记入（分类）帐；宣布、公告（消息）等，文中指集团宣布消息
largest PC maker by shipments
shipment用于贸易指货物（装运），此处指按出货量计，联想集团是世界前三大个人电脑生产商
put strain on
strain指紧张、压力，此处意为（全球紧缩的经济状况将）使商业及消费类电脑市场雪上加霜