Tokyo, May 14 (DPA) Sony Corp suffered its first annual net loss in 14 years as the yen’s rise against the dollar and harsh price competition amid the global economic downturn drove consumers away, the company said Thursday.
Sony reported 98.9 billion yen ($1.03 billion) in net loss for the fiscal 2008 year against a 369.4-billion-yen net profit the year before.
The Japanese electronics giant incurred an operating loss of 227.8 billion yen for the business year that ended March 31, a turnaround from a profit of 475.3 billion yen the year before.
The global downturn slashed demand for consumer electronics such as televisions and mobile phones. Sony was additionally battered as the yen strengthening against the dollar made its products less competitive in the company’s overseas export markets.
Sales were down 12.9 percent to 7.73 trillion yen.
For the current fiscal year, Sony expected to narrow is operating loss to 110 billion yen but to expand net losses to 120 billion yen. Sales were to dip by 6 percent to 7.3 trillion yen.
