Hitachi says no plan to buy GE's appliances unit

TOKYO (Reuters) - Hitachi Ltd, Japan's largest electronics conglomerate, said on Monday it has no plan to acquire General Electric Co's appliances operations.

General Electric said this month it may sell or spin off its century-old appliances unit, saying the business was too focused on the United States. The unit is estimated by analysts to be worth $4 billion to $8 billion.

"It is important for us to press ahead with our own appliance operations," President Kazuo Furukawa told reporters.

"When it comes to white goods we are enjoying strong earnings right now, especially for air conditioners. Our (air-conditioner) operations in Europe, India and Brazil are doing well," he said.

Hitachi is one of Japan's largest makers of appliances, competing with Toshiba Corp, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Mitsubishi Electric.

GE's unit is thought to potentially have appeal for an Asian manufacturer looking for a brand well known in the United States.

Analysts and investors have cited China's Haier Group and South Korea's LG Electronics Inc among possible suitors.

Speaking at a news conference on its business strategy, Furukawa said he aims to turn Hitachi's hard disk drive operations profitable in the year to March 2009, and to achieve an annual operating profit at its flat TV business in the following year, reiterating Hitachi executives' earlier comments.

Flat TV and hard disk drive businesses have been two major drags for Hitachi's overall earnings.