By Zeba Fatima
 
Panasonic is bracing for a record net loss of more than 700 billion yen ($A8.6 billion) for the year to March. The new forecast is the worst-ever loss for Panasonic and far exceeds its earlier projection of a 420-billion-yen hit.

The estimated figure is well in excess of its existing forecast for a Y420 billion ($A5.1bn) loss, Japanese newspaper, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.
 
The Mainichi Shimbun said that while Panasonic expects to post an operating profit, the huge net loss is due to one-off costs it incurred to acquire rival Sanyo, damage from the Thai flooding and the yen's rise on the eurozone crisis.

The full-year loss would be Panasonic's first in two years, although the report added that it would still make an operating profit. The company's previous record net loss came in the 2001 business year, when it posted a loss of Y428 billion, the report said.