Mitsubishi Electric Corp announced it expects to post a consolidated net loss of 70bn yen ($556m) for fiscal 1997, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. It would be the first net loss since the company began issuing consolidated financial statements in fiscal 1969, and comes after the company posted a profit of 8.5bn yen ($67.5m) in fiscal 1996. Weak DRAM prices and sluggish sales of home appliances were blamed for the poor outlook. Parent company pre-tax profit will fall 92% to 5bn yen ($39.7m), but a one-time restructuring charge of $15bn yen ($119.1m) and stock appraisal losses linked to subsidiaries will generate a net loss of 33bn yen ($262.1m), compared with profit of 25.8bn yen ($204.9m) the year before. It will be the first net loss for the parent company since it was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1949. Although the firm tried to cut losses in the semiconductor division by increasing sales of 64Mb DRAMs, slumping chip prices undermined the strategy. Poor sales of liquid crystal displays and audio/visual equipment also hurt the bottom line.
