Panasonic records worst fiscal-year net loss

Tokyo, May 11 (Xinhua-ANI): Panasonic Corp. announced on Friday that it has recorded its worst-ever group net loss of 772.17 billion yen (9.67 billion U.S. dollars) for the financial year ending in March.

For the January-March period alone, the flagship electronics maker logged a ballooned loss of 438 billion yen.

The company blamed the negative impact of the natural disasters in March last year, an appreciated yen and the massive flooding in Thailand for the huge loss. In the previous financial year, Panasonic witnessed sharp sales fall in digital products.

Nevertheless, the company said it expects to return to the black by realizing a net profit of 50 billion yen for the current fiscal year, citing positive results of its restructuring efforts and sales hike in Asian region, including China.

The company forecast that sales will increase in items including appliances and energy.

Panasonic is not the only Japanese electronics maker to book huge loss. Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. had reported their worst- ever group net losses for the previous fiscal year. (Xinhua-ANI)