Panasonic posts loss of $3.97 b

Panasonic Corp suffered its first annual loss in six years because of shrinking demand and harsh price competition the company said on Friday.
Panasonic reportied a net loss for the year that ended March 31.  It was in the red by 379 billion yen ($3.97 billion), which was a turnaround from a record profit of 281.88 billion yen the year before. As sales declined 14 pc  from the previous year to 7.77 trillion yen, operating profit plunged 86 pc  to 72.9 billion yen, the firm said. The company suffered a sales drop in its television department as  economic turmoil caused demand  to wane.