Fujitsu coughs to Q1 loss, pushes up profit forecast

Fujitsu Ltd reported a first quarter net loss of ¥29.1bn ($303m) today, for the three months ended 30 June.

Despite that, Japan's largest IT services company upped its income forecast for the full year by 13 per cent to ¥90bn ($948m), citing "rebounding demand for electronic components."

It said total Q1 net sales tumbled more than 11 per cent to ¥1,044.3bn ($10.8bn) in the period, compared to the same quarter in 2008.

Fujitsu took a bruising operating loss of ¥37.2bn ($386m) in the first quarter, compared with a ¥5.8bn profit a year earlier.

"In addition to lower sales, the yen appreciation, increased pension costs, and special one-time charges contributed to the loss," noted the HP and IBM IT services rival.

Fujitsu is currently rejigging its business, with plans to cut loose its unprofitable hard drive segment and outsource its microchip production to Toshiba. It is also looking at ways to win more overseas IT consulting sales. ®