Japan’s Sharp said yesterday it will cut 5,000 jobs by March as it reported a quarterly loss and said it would remain in the red for the rest of the year amid heavy losses at its struggling TV business.

The major consumer electronics maker said its net loss for the April-June quarter was 138.4 billion yen (€1.43 billion), compared with a loss of 49.3 billion yen in the same period a year ago.

Its operating loss was 94.1 billion yen, plunging from an operating profit of 3.5 billion yen a year ago. Sales fell 28.4 per cent to 458.6 billion yen.

The company, which has seen its mainstay television, liquid crystal display and solar panel products units struggle, said the job reductions were part of a bid to cut fixed costs by 100 billion yen to help its dented balance sheet.

Sharp also downgraded its annual earnings forecast, saying it now expected an annual net loss of 250 billion yen for the fiscal year to March 2013.

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