Panasonic posts a $4B annual loss, first in 7 years

TOKYO -- The world's biggest plasma TV maker Friday reported a 378.96 billion yen ($4 billion) loss for the fiscal year ended in March — its first loss in seven years — and expects to stay in the red in the current year.

Business slumped across all segments as a result of lackluster demand for everything from flat-screen TVs and digital cameras to home appliances and semiconductors. Sales were down 14.4% to 7.77 trillion yen, and operating profit tumbled 86% to 72.9 billion yen.

For the January-March quarter, Panasonic booked a record net loss of 444.3 billion yen, vs. a profit of 61.6 billion yen a year earlier.

The results represent a swift reversal of fortune for Panasonic, which just last year posted a record profit of 281.9 billion yen.

But it is only the latest among a score of bellwether brands in Japan releasing grim results as the world's second-biggest economy gets battered by the unprecedented slump in global demand.

Panasonic vowed to press ahead with "drastic business structural reforms" to try to engineer a recovery.

For the 12 months through March 2010, it forecasts a steeper-than-expected net loss of 195 billion yen on sales of 7 trillion yen. It predicts operating profit will climb 3% to 75 billion yen, though analysts say that looks overly optimistic.

President Fumio Ohtsubo has said he wants to shut unprofitable business lines, shift resources to those with growth potential and improve product quality. The firm is slashing capacity and aims to cut about 5% of its 300,000 global work force by next spring.

The company will close 40 plants worldwide by March 2010 to help save 135 billion yen this year, said Panasonic official Makoto Uenoyama, according to Kyodo news agency.