(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Electronics maker Hitachi said it now expects a smaller loss than originally forecast for the first half of fiscal 2007 due to growth in its telecommunications and data storage businesses as well as progress in its restructuring efforts.
The Tokyo-based company said it now expects a loss of 13.5 billion yen ($118 million) for the April-September period, less than half the 35 billion yen loss originally forecast.
Sales are forecast to come in at 5.28 trillion yen ($46.3 billion), up from the 4.95 trillion yen originally projected, the company said in a release.
Hitachi, whose businesses span nuclear power reactors, flat-panel TVs, washing machines and electronic devices such as hard disk drives, has been losing money, and is struggling to turn itself around.
Earlier this week, the sprawling electronics giant announced it was getting out of the household computer business, though it plans to keep making some kinds of computers for corporate clients.
Hitachi is scheduled to announce earnings for the fiscal first half next Wednesday.
© 2007 The Associated Press
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