Sharp posts $265 million loss last quarter amid weakening demand for TVs, phones

Sharp posts $265 million quarterly loss

TOKYO — Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. sank to a loss last quarter as a companywide effort to cut costs failed to offset plunging demand.

The maker of the Aquos line of liquid crystal display televisions Thursday reported a net loss of 25.2 billion yen ($265 million) for the April-June period, diving from a profit of 24.9 billion yen the same period last year.

Fiscal first quarter sales at the Osaka-based company fell 20 percent to 598.3 billion yen ($6.30 billion) from 747.8 billion yen from the year before.

It said weak economic conditions persisted during the quarter, with the global recession causing demand to fall sharply.

Despite recent signs of recovery in private consumption in Japan and other Asian countries, “the slowdown continued in the U.S. and Europe,” Sharp said in a statement.

Sharp posted a net loss of 125.8 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March, its first yearly red ink in nearly six decades. But the company said it will return to profit during the current year and kept its projections, announced April, of an annual profit of 2.75 trillion ($28.9 billion).

Sales of televisions and other audio visual equipment, as well as mobile phones, declined, while plunging prices of large television displays and other consumer electronics products mainly contributed to the dismal outcome, Sharp said.

The competitive market combined with a strong yen have also battered other Japanese electronics makers, including Sharp’s bigger rivals like Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp.

Sharp shares gained 3.9 percent to 1,029 yen Thursday in Tokyo, where trading closed just before the company announced its earnings.