Japanese electronic major Sony today said it expects to post a whopping operating loss of 260 billion yen (about $2.92 billion) for the fiscal year 2009, primarily due to plunging sales and appreciating yen.
The company, which has announced plans to axe 16,000 jobs to tackle the economic downturn, would be posting an operating loss, reportedly for the first time in 14 years.
Interestingly, in October last year, Sony projected an operating income of 200 billion yen for the fiscal year 2009.
In a statement today, it said that the sales and operating income are expected to be significantly lower mainly on account of "a deterioration in the business environment as a result of the global economic slowdown, the continued appreciation of the yen, the impact from the decline in the Japanese stock market and an increase in expected restructuring charges".
Further, Sony has projected a net loss of 150 billion yen for the fiscal year 2009 whereas the firm in October, had expected to post a net income of 150 billion yen for the same period.
Meanwhile, for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, Sony anticipates the net income to plunge 95 per cent to 10 billion yen. The firm had a net income of 200.2 billion yen in the corresponding period a year ago.
Sony's sales and operating revenue for the third quarter is projected to fall 25 per cent to 2,150 billion yen. The company's sales and operating revenue in the year-ago period stood at 2,859 billion yen.
In December, the company had said it would slash 8,000 full time jobs, representing five per cent of its global workforce, besides laying off another estimated 8,000 temporary workers.
Earlier, the electronics giant had said that it would reduce the total number of manufacturing sites by 10 per cent from the current total of 57 by March 31, 2010.
