Toshiba Corporation (TOSBF)

[Hostile Takeover]

Asia Pulse

Toshiba Corp. (TSE:6502) plans to turn its smart-community operations into a major earnings source, shifting away from its focus on semiconductors and nuclear power, according to its new medium-term business plan.

Under the plan unveiled Tuesday, Toshiba has set its sights on tripling sales from its smart-community business from fiscal year 2010 to 900 billion yen (US$11 billion) in fiscal 2015.

Because the smart-community business encompasses diverse fields ranging from power generation to smart grids and various energy-saving systems, Toshiba has yet to cover the market's full spectrum. To facilitate the acquisitions needed to build vertically integrated operations, the company has set aside 700 billion yen for M&As and tie-ups.

Toshiba also plans to beef up the green-electronics-parts business, which includes storage batteries and efficient motors. And it is looking to boost its renewable-energy business by roughly sevenfold by fiscal 2015. The firm also aims to quadruple its power electronics and electric vehicle operations, which cover lithium ion batteries and highly efficient motors.

Meanwhile, the company revised its goal of earning 1 trillion yen in sales from nuclear power operations by winning 39 new orders by fiscal 2015, indicating that the time frame will be extended by several years.

In its three-year earnings plan, released also on Tuesday, Toshiba set the goal of increasing group sales to 8.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2013, up 33 per cent from fiscal 2010, and doubling group operating profit to 500 billion yen. It also intends to raise its overseas sales ratio to 65 per cent from 55 per cent and generate equal sales in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, and emerging countries.