Toshiba Corp has reported 48.3bn yen ($460m) in consolidated net loss in the six months ended September 30, worse than the 23.6bn yen loss a year earlier. Group interim sales were up 5% at 2.62 trillion yen ($25bn), but were flat if the figures from Toshiba Tech, which was recently made a subsidiary, are excluded.
The rise in the value of the Japanese currency, which averaged 118 yen to the dollar during the six months compared to 138 yen in the corresponding period last year, took a 78bn ($743m) yen bite out of the operating balance.
The home appliance division saw interim operating profit of 1.5bn ($14.3m) yen, its first in eight years, but the electronic device division, which includes semiconductors, saw operating loss swell to 64.9bn yen ($618m) from 29.3bn yen a year earlier. The digital media division saw operating profit shrink 30% year on year to 18bn yen ($171m).
The company also predicted a group net loss of 50bn yen ($476m) for the full fiscal year through March, including the booking of 110bn yen ($1.05bn) in extraordinary loss stemming from a court settlement in a computer case in the US. Group net loss in fiscal 1998 was 13.9bn yen. Fiscal 1999 group sales are predicted to be 7% higher at 5.65 trillion yen ($53.8bn) and operating profit is expected to be 160% higher at 80bn yen ($762m).
