Sony, a bellwether of corporate Japan, was likely to post an operating loss of 100 billion yen (S$1.6 billion) due to sagging demand and a stronger yen. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO - JAPANESE electronics giant Sony Corp. is expected to suffer its first operating loss in 14 years in the financial year to March, reports said on Tuesday.
Sony, a bellwether of corporate Japan, was likely to post an operating loss of 100 billion yen (S$1.6 billion) due to sagging demand and a stronger yen, the Nikkei business daily reported, citing unnamed company sources.
Plunging sales and inventory charges were expected to lower full-year operating profit by around 100 billion yen, it said.
Sony likely dropped to an operating loss in the October-December quarter, when demand for digital goods typically peaks, the Nikkei said.
A company spokesman was not immediately available to confirm the report.
Public broadcaster NHK also reported that Sony was expected to revise down its earnings forecast to announce an operating loss for the year to March.
In October, Sony had forecast a net profit of 150 billion yen for the year to March, down 59 per cent from last year and much worse than an earlier goal of 240 billion yen.
It had forecast a full-year operating profit of 200 billion yen, compared with 475.3 billion yen from financial 2007.
In December, the company said it was cutting more than 8,000 jobs worldwide and shutting plants as part of an overhaul to cope with the global economic downturn. -- AFP
