Panasonic reports big loss but forecasts profit

Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp today reported a near-record net loss of $7.5 billion for the fiscal year through March due to restructuring costs and slumping sales, but predicted a return to the black this year as it prunes unprofitable businesses.

The Osaka-based company, which makes Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras, has been battered by plunging prices, the strong yen, an ailing TV business and intense competition from the likes of South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.

A good chunk of the net loss came from hefty restructuring expenses, including impairment losses as the company wrote down the value of assets related to its solar, lithium-ion and mobile phone businesses.

The company also reduced its global staff over the year from 330,767 to 293,742.

Sales declined 7%  during the year to 7.3 trillion yen, the company said in its financial results, citing a "severe business situation" in the electronics industry, including sluggish demand for flat-panel TVs.

Panasonic, which lost a record 772 billion yen the previous year one of the biggest losses ever in Japan acknowledged that its three-year business plan had fallen far short of the desired results. Under its next three-year management plan, it promised to immediately eliminate unprofitable businesses.