Fujitsu Ltd. plunged into the red for the first half of its business year as the global slump in information technology dealt a blow to its core communications and electronics businesses.
The leading computer maker said Wednesday it will slash 4,600 more jobs by March 31 in addition to the 16,400 already slated to go. Fujitsu announced the major staff cutback plan in July.
In its group earnings report for the six months to Sept. 30, Fujitsu said it posted a net loss of 174.72 billion yen, a sharp reversal from the profit of 17.24 billion yen marked in the same period a year before.
It reported a group pretax loss of 107.54 billion yen, against the 65.05 billion yen profit a year earlier, with sales of 2.388 trillion yen, down 4.1 percent.
Despite the losses, the company will pay an interim dividend of 2.5 yen per share for the half-year period, compared with 5 yen paid a year earlier.
Fujitsu said it revised downward its group earnings forecast for the full year as business investment and consumer demand will likely deteriorate further amid growing signs of a U.S. recession. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States also darkened the outlook for overall demand, it said.
The company now expects a net group loss of 310 billion yen for the year, worse than the previous estimate in July of a 220 billion yen loss, and a pretax loss of 100 billion yen, down from a 20 billion yen loss, on sales of 5.2 trillion yen, down from 5.4 trillion yen.
Last year, Fujitsu posted 8.52 billion yen in net group profit, 189.75 billion yen in pretax profit and 5.484 trillion yen in sales.