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Panasonic forecasts biggest loss in decade on strong yen

31 October 2011 11:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Panasonic Corp., the maker of Viera televisions, forecast its biggest annual loss in 10 years, citing the impact of a stronger yen and one-time charges, APA reports citing AFP.

Full-year loss may be 420 billion yen ($5.3 billion), the Osaka-based electronics maker said in a statement today, reversing an earlier projection for profit of 30 billion yen in the 12 months ending March 31. For the three months ended Sept. 30, Panasonic reported a net loss of 106 billion yen, compared with the 5.6 billion yen average of four analystsâ€™ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Panasonic cut its annual TV sales target to 19 million from 25 million amid increasing competition with Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. The yen reaching a post-war high against the dollar and a decade high against the euro is putting pressure on the company, which plans to eliminate 17,000 jobs and focus on products such as solar panels and rechargeable batteries.

Panasonic declined 2.1 percent to 809 yen at the close of trading today in Tokyo, before earnings were announced. The shares have declined 30 percent this year, compared with a 2 percent advance for Samsung and a 43 percent drop for Sony Corp.