Hitachi has said it will cut jobs around the world

Electronics maker Hitachi has reported a record annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, after demand for its products fell.

The Japanese technology and industrial conglomerate announced a net loss of 787.3bn yen ($8.1bn; £5.3bn).

It warned that the next year would continue to be difficult and forecast a loss of 270bn yen.

In January, Hitachi said it planned to cut up to 7,000 jobs globally because of a big fall in sales.

At the time it also said that it expected to make a loss of 700bn yen.

But last week the firm said losses would be bigger than its earlier estimate because of writedowns on some of its assets.

Gloomy outlook

The company is a rather diffuse and not entirely successful beast Jonathan Allum, Japan strategist, KBC Peel Hunt

Revenue fell 11% to 10 trillion yen.

The economic downturn has led to weak demand for Hitachi's electronics, chip and automotive products.

"The global economy... is not expected to see a fully-fledged recovery until 2010 at the earliest," Hitachi said in a statement.

"The global economic outlook is being shaped by concerns about the US and other industrialised nations slipping into negative economic growth, and about slowing economic growth in emerging economies and the yen's appreciation."

According to the Shinko Research Institute, Hitachi's results represent the worst annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, and the second-largest in Japanese corporate history.

The largest annual loss in Japanese corporate history came in 2002 when telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone reported an 834.6bn yen loss.

Cost-cutting

Shares in Hitachi fell 5.2% to 381 yen ahead of the results.

Hitachi has already said it plans to cut costs of about 490bn yen.

It is looking to reduce the number of its subsidiaries to 700 from 910 by March 2010.

"A lot of the losses at Hitachi are to do with restructuring," said Jonathan Allum, Japan strategist at KBC Peel Hunt

"The company is a rather diffuse and not entirely successful beast."

Corporate losses

Hitachi was one of several Japanese companies presenting gloomy results to the market on Tuesday.

Japan Airlines reported an annual loss of 63.2bn yen after international passenger numbers fell. It had made a profit of 16.9bn yen the previous year.

Carmaker Nissan reported a net loss of 233.7bn yen for the year to 31 March, although the loss was not as bad as the company had predicted earlier this year.

Mazda announced an annual loss of 52.1bn yen, down from a 65.2bn yen profit a year earlier.

And Yamaha Motors reported a net loss of 15.8bn yen for the January to March quarter, compared with a profit of 22.2bn yen for the same period in 2008.