Electronics conglomerate Fujitsu – which has its European headquarters at Birmingham Business Park – is in talks with German business software maker SAP on expanding co-operation in Asia, Fujitsu president Kuniaki Nozoe confirmed.
Fujitsu, which competes with International Business Machines and Electronic Data Systems in IT services, is looking for new profit streams abroad while trimming costs in its PC, hard drive and semiconductor businesses.
Fujitsu, Japan’s top computer services firm, and SAP have worked together in designing IT systems in Japan, and the two are looking to work more together in other parts of Asia, such as in China and South Korea, Nozoe said.
Fujitsu, which also makes PCs and mobile phones, earned 36 per cent of its total sales abroad in the year ended in March, but its profit margin earned overseas was a meagre 1.2 per cent.
The company did not take sufficient measures against the possibility of a slowing global economy last year, Nozoe said.
``This year we are better prepared, and I believe profitability will improve.’’ he said.
In April-June, Fujitsu swung to a quarterly profit from a loss the previous year as it won orders in its systems integration business, which outweighed continuing losses in its semiconductor business.
Fujitsu, which also supplies chips to Canon and Kyocera targets a profit margin of over five per cent in the year ending in March 2010.
