Panasonic Posts $2.6 Billion Quarterly Loss

A MAN WALKS PAST AN ADVERTISEMENT BOARD OF PANASONIC OUTSIDE AN ELECTRONIC SHOP IN TOKYO FEBRUARY 3, 2012.

Panasonic Corp posted a quarterly net loss of 197.6 billion yen ($2.59 billion) on Tuesday and forecast a record 780 billion yen full-year net loss, hurt by weak demand for its TVs and the cost of restructuring operations.

The loss at the maker of Viera TVs for the October-December period compared with a consensus estimate of an 8.4 billion yen net loss, based on a Smartestimate of three analysts on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Panasonic has been hurt by poor sales of its TVs amid weak demand and stiff competition, and is accounting for the cost of shuttering some panel production and laying off workers.

The revised full-year net loss forecast compared with a 470 billion yen loss consensus estimate of 19 analysts polled by ThomsonReuters I/B/E/S.

Shares in Panasonic, which competes with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, Sony Corp and Sharp Corp, have fallen by 45 percent in the past 12 months and slid to their lowest close in more than 30 years on Thursday. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average fell 15 percent over the same period.

REUTERS