After Sony, Panasonic posts $4.68 billion annual loss

Japanese electronic major Panasonic Corp reported a loss of 378.96 billion yen ($4.68 billion) for the full year ended 31 March 2009.

The company's sales were down 14.4 per cent from the previous year to 7.77 trillion yen ($95 billion).

The last time Panasonic reported an annual loss was for the fiscal year ending March 2002, when a global electronics slump and massive restructuring costs contributed to 431 billion yen in loss.

Since then, the company has been shedding money-losing businesses and focusing on key products such as plasma display TVs to turn itself around.

The company, formerly named Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, reported plummeting sales in all its product lines including flat-screen TVs, digital cameras, home appliances and semiconductors.

Panasonic had earlier said that it will slash 15,000 jobs and shut down 27 plants worldwide to cope with plunging demand for its televisions, semiconductors and other electronics products.