Pioneer's Top Execs Take Blame for Losses

The top two executives of Pioneer Corp., a Tokyo-based maker of plasma displays and other electronic products, last week agreed to step down after taking responsibility for recent quarterly losses and a predicted deficit for the full fiscal year, which ends in March.

Kaneo Ito, Pioneer's president, and Kanya Matsumoto, its chairman, will leave their posts on Jan. 1, according to a statement issued by the company. Ito will be replaced by Tamihiko Sudo, currently an executive vice president of corporate strategy at Pioneer. No successor was named for Matsumoto, who will remain as a director of the company.

"This change in management is an indication of their assuming responsibility for the steep decline in Pioneer's financial performance," the company said in its statement.

Pioneer reported a '12.3 billion (US$103 million) loss for the six months from April to September, compared with a profit of '4.8 billion ($40 million) in the same period last year. It expects its full-year loss to total '24 billion ($202 million), compared with a year-earlier deficit of '8.8 billion ($74 million).