Panasonic considers closing units - FT.com Panasonic, Japan's largest consumer electronics maker, is assessing the possible closure of some of its businesses as the company approaches its second $10bn loss in two years. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Kazuhiro Tsuga Panasonic president, said the talks were part of a midterm restructuring plan that the company would unveil on March 31. Mr Tsuga stressed that shutting any divisions would be a worst-case scenario - "We really want to avoid it." He would not say which businesses could be affected. Panasonic is a diverse company with products ranging from consumer electronics to white goods and industrial hardware. However, its consumer electronics unit has struggled amid intense competition from companies such as Korea's Samsung. Sales of Panasonic TVs, handsets and personal computers have slumped. Last October the company withdrew its prediction of a return to profit, instead warning that it would probably suffer a second $10bn loss. In November the company announced a further 8,000 job cuts, bringing the total to almost 47,000 - or 13 per cent of its workforce - in 21 months. The following week Fitch, the credit rating agency, downgraded Panasonic's credit rating to junk, citing the company's loss of leadership in key products and the effect of the strong yen on sales. Sony, another Japanese electronics group, was given a similar downgrade. Restructuring can be expensive in Japan, where labour laws make it hard for business to make workers redundant unless they are near bankruptcy. Panasonic has already sold off some underperforming divisions, but in many cases the reductions were the result of negotiated deals where employees received months or even years" worth of severance pay. Shares in Panasonic closed down 0.19 per cent at Y519 on Tuesday. Additional reporting by Jonathan Soble in Tokyo