Japanese IT giant NEC Corp says it expects to post a 50bn yen ($480m) consolidated net loss for the first half of the current financial year which ends on September 30, although group sales are expected to be up 6% at 2.25 trillion yen ($21.59bn). It says it has seen brisk sales of PCs and information systems, but this has been offset by sluggish domestic demand for communications equipment. The semiconductor division expects to continue to report losses due to a fall in memory chip prices.
However the company still hopes to post 10bn yen ($96m) in consolidated net profit for the full year through March 2000, compared with a 157.9bn yen ($1.52bn) loss in the last financial year. It expects to see its semiconductor business improve, following a rise in memory chip prices and stepped-up cost-cutting efforts. It originally projected 25bn yen ($240m) in consolidated net profit for the full year.
