Japan’s Sharp is set to suffer an operating loss in the most recent financial quarter, according to the Nikkei Business Daily on Friday. There has been a downturn in the company’s smartphone display business, forcing it to seek bank bailouts in May.
The electronics giant is expected to report an operating loss of $282 million (35 billion yen) for the quarter, compared with a profit of 4.6 billion yen a year earlier.
Sharp sales expected to fall
Sharp’s quarterly sales were expected to fall by 3.2% to 600 billion yen. The figures were weaker than markets expected, and shares in Sharp fell 3% in the morning trade. Analysts have forecast, on average, an operating loss of around 21 billion yen on sales of 612 billion, says Thomson Reuters Estimates.
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Sharp has recently struggled to cope with the fall in prices for LCD displays sold to smartphone companies. In May this year, it managed to secure a $1.9 billion bailout after it fell deep into the red.
Sharp’s July-September earnings will need to improve significantly for the company to meet its targeted operating profit of 10 billion yen for the April-September half, the report said.
SOURCE: Reuters.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.