TOKYO —

Hitachi Ltd reported a 371 billion yen net loss for the fiscal third quarter Tuesday as a global slump squelched demand, and confirmed that it expects its worst ever full-year loss.
 
Hitachi, which makes everything from home appliances to medical equipment, stuck to its forecast given last month for a 700 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March, a stark reversal from the 15 billion yen profit it projected in October.
 
That would be the worst annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, according to Shinko Research Institute Co. It would be the second-largest in Japanese corporate history after an 834.6 billion yen loss reported by telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. for the fiscal year ending March 2002, Shinko said.
 
Hitachi, which has already announced it will slash 7,000 jobs, or nearly 2% of its global work force, had a 12.5 billion yen profit for the October-December period the previous year. Quarterly sales fell 16% to 2.26 trillion yen from 2.71 trillion yen in 2007.
 
The Tokyo-based company said virtually every area in its sprawling business was battered by the global downturn. An appreciating yen, which erodes the value of overseas earnings, also hurt results, it said.
 
Demand fell sharply in a wide range of Hitachi’s operations, including computer chips, software services, electric power systems, digital disks, auto parts and fine metals, the company said in a statement.
 
The U.S. financial crisis has caused ripple effects throughout the world economy, squelching demand not only in industrialized nations but also in China and other new markets, it said.
 
Although Hitachi has promised to scrap unprofitable sectors, review investments and close plants to cut costs, its sales prospects remain shaky. It is forecasting a 11% slide in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31 at 10.02 trillion yen.
 
“Our business conditions are increasingly murky as the fallout on financial markets from ‘Lehman shock’ fails to settle down, and the economies of the U.S. and emerging nations rapidly deteriorate,” Hitachi said, referring to the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year.
 
Sales were down in all regions, on average by about 20%, including North America, Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia, according to Hitachi.
 
Other Japanese electronics makers are also reporting dismal results.
 
Sony’s net profit shriveled to 10.4 billion yen in the third quarter, down 85% from a year earlier. Sony is also forecasting a 150 billion yen net loss for the full fiscal year, largely because of huge losses in its core electronics sector. The last—and only—time Sony reported a loss, for the fiscal year ending March 1995, the red ink came from one-time losses in its movie division, marred by box office flops and lax cost controls.
 
Toshiba Corp reported a net loss of 121 billion yen for the October-December quarter, plummeting from the 80.5 billion yen profit it booked in the same period the previous year, as demand fell for flash memory chips and other gadgets. It expects a net loss of 280 billion yen for the fiscal year.
 
NEC Corp’s net loss for October-December swelled to 130 billion yen from 5.2 billion yen a year earlier, and is forecasting a net loss for the full year through March.
 

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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5 Comments

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  ultradodgy at 08:59 AM JST - 4th February

  The tip of the iceberg. It's amazing how much demand for plasma TVs and that cool new laptop falls when you're homeless.

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  Samuraiiki at 10:37 AM JST - 4th February

  I will start buying Non-Japanese products as much as possible. They are too expensive now, and besides, why should I reward a country wich condones discrimination of any kind even among their own, which allows companies to work employes to death, and does not have clear rules on overtime wages.

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  mikihouse at 02:09 PM JST - 4th February

  hitachi hard drives are called deathstar because these HDD die a month after the warranty ends...my mistake in buying 3 of them. Now they are all craps

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  whitepocky at 03:30 PM JST - 4th February

  this was reported on NHK Sunday evening. Why does it take 3 days to make press here??

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  roomtemperature at 03:46 PM JST - 4th February

  "this was reported on NHK Sunday evening. Why does it take 3 days to make press here??"

  Uhhmm...do your homework. It was already reported here on Saturday!!

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