Toshiba loss exceeds expectations
Toshiba loss exceeds expectations
Published: 07:35 pm Apr 17, 2009
TOKYO: Toshiba Corp., Japan's top chipmaker, Friday said its net loss for the last fiscal year will be bigger than forecast due to a large write-off, while operating losses narrowed as prices for flash memory chips stabilized.
Toshiba now estimates the net loss for the year to March 2009 at 350 billion yen ($3.5 billion), sharply up from 280 billion yen forecast earlier and its biggest loss ever. It would also mark Toshiba's first annual net loss in seven years.
The company said the wider net loss was due to a write-off of 85 billion yen in deferred tax assets.
But the electronics maker said its operating loss would be a smaller-than-expected 250 billion yen, thanks to the stabilization of prices of flash memory chips used for music players and digital cameras.
In March, Toshiba picked a new president, Norio Sasaki, 59, who will take the helm in June following approval at a meeting of shareholders.
Hit by a plunge in demand amid the global economic slump, Toshiba said in January it would cut 4,500 contract workers and delay or cancel investments in new chip plants.