UPDATE 3-Toshiba names power business head as new CEO

* Norio Sasaki to take over in June

* He manages company's only profitable division

* CEO Nishida to be chairman; Chairman Okamura to be adviser

(adds company comment, background)

By Sachi Izumi

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T) tapped Norio Sasaki as its new chief executive, entrusting the experienced head of its power division with a $3 billion cost-cutting plan as the electronics giant heads for a record loss.

Toshiba, which is facing a 280 billion yen ($2.8 billion) annual loss mainly due to its struggling chip business, said on Wednesday it wanted to have a single leader to see the company through its restructuring, recovery and subsequent growth phases.

The reshuffle came two days after rival Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) named another power business veteran, 69-year-old Takashi Kawamura, as its new CEO from April to take on the job of restructuring its sprawling operations. [ID:nT254512]

As a key advisor to current chief Atsutoshi Nishida, 59-year-old Sasaki has been in charge of Toshiba's social infrastructure business, which includes power plants, elevators and medical equipment.

That is currently the company's sole profitable division as the global recession has taken a heavy toll on its semiconductor, electronics products and household appliance businesses.

Sasaki, who led Toshiba's purchase of U.S. nuclear power firm Westinghouse in 2006, will become president and chief executive in June, pending shareholder approval, with Nishida moving to the post of chairman after four years in the helm.

Current Chairman Tadashi Okamura will become an adviser.

Nishida spearheaded Toshiba's emergence as the world's No. 2 maker of NAND-type flash memory behind Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS).

"This economic crisis can be overcome by using one's imagination ... and one's innovation, and I believe this can be a big chance to (make) the next leap forward," Sasaki told a briefing.

COST CUTS

Toshiba has mapped out a 300 billion yen ($3.1 billion) cost-cutting plan for the coming business year by slashing capital spending and contract jobs. It also plans to delay construction of new flash memory chip plants while putting more resources into growth areas such as lithium ion batteries and solar power systems.

Sasaki said he would oversee the restructuring measures and the firm's globalisation programme.

Standard & Poor's analyst Hiroki Shibata said the appointment would be positive if it meant the company would put more resources into its social infrastructure business.

"Social infrastructure business might not be able to see a big growth but it's stable because actual sales comes a long time after getting orders and there will be maintenance needs afterward," he said.

"If Toshiba will focus on the business, it would help stabilise its cash flow and earnings in the future."

Tomomi Yamashita, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, said he expected the reshuffle to have little impact on the company's share price.

"I don't think this means that top management is taking responsibility for the poor performance because it happened when the company was already carefully picking and choosing how to use its resources," he said. "It's not as if Toshiba plunged into the red when everyone else was doing well."

Toshiba shares closed ahead of the announcement, rising 0.4 percent to 258 yen. The Nikkei average .N225 ended up 0.3 percent.

(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi and Yumiko Nishitani; Editing by Chris Gallagher. John Stonestreet)