Sharp posts loss

TOKYO: Japanese electronics maker Sharp said on Thursday it suffered a $2.3 billion annual loss and released no forecast for the current business year as it assesses the impact of its acquisition by Taiwan’s Hon Hai. The company also said that an executive from Hon Hai, the world’s biggest electronics supplier, will take over as president. In March, Sharp agreed to the buyout that will see Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, take a 66 per cent stake for $3.5 billion after the Japanese industrial mainstay was pummelled by huge losses and mounting debts. Sharp said its net loss for the year to March swelled to 256 billion yen ($2.3 billion) from 222.3 billion yen the year before, resulting in liabilities exceeding assets. Sales fell 11.7 per cent to 2.5 trillion yen, while its operating loss ballooned to 162

billion yen from 48.1 billion yen in the red a year earlier.