Japanese electronics maker Hitachi Ltd said yesterday its loss for the fiscal year ended March would be bigger than previously forecast, ballooning to ¥788 billion (US$8 billion) after writing down expected tax refunds.
Hitachi, which makes everything from home appliances to medical equipment, had already been expecting its worst-ever net loss of ¥700 billion as a global slump squelches demand.
The ¥788 billion of red ink would be the worst annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, Shinko Research Institute Co said.
It would be the second-largest in Japanese corporate history after an ¥834.6 billion loss reported by telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp for the fiscal year ending March 2002, Shinko said.
Hitachi said it forecast a bigger loss because the global slowdown would result in contracting business and smaller tax refunds.
Hitachi also lowered its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to ¥10 trillion from ¥10.02 trillion. Hitachi reports earnings next Tuesday.
Hitachi, which has announced it will slash 7,000 jobs, or nearly 2 percent of its global work force, had a ¥58.1 billion loss and ¥11.2 trillion in sales for the previous fiscal year ending March 2008.
The firm said virtually every area in its sprawling business has been battered by the global downturn. An appreciating yen, which erodes the value of overseas earnings, has also hurt results.
Demand has plunged in a wide range of Hitachi’s operations, including computer chips, software services, electric power systems, digital disks, auto parts and fine metals, according to the company.
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Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
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