OSAKA: Sharp Corp. said Wednesday that Executive Vice President Masahiro Okitsu will succeed Wu Po-Hsuan as president and CEO.

Wu will stay as a representative director. The appointments will be formalized at a board meeting to be held after a general shareholder meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The leadership change is aimed at transforming Sharp’s business structure, the ailing Japanese electronics firm said.

Sharp posted a group net loss of 149.9 billion yen for the year that ended in March, due chiefly to its sluggish liquid crystal display panel operations, suffering a huge loss for the second straight year.

In May, the company said in its medium-term management plan that it will focus on “brand” operations, such as smart home appliances and office equipment, as part of its turnaround efforts. Okitsu has led the operations for a long time.

Under Wu’s leadership, Sharp boosted overseas businesses while pulling the plug on production of large LCD panels for television sets and reducing output of smaller panels.

JIJI Press