Japan’s Sharp tumbles to $1.9 billion loss on hefty writedown

TOKYO: Sharp Corp, the Japanese electronics maker owned by Taiwan’s Foxconn, posted on Thursday a full-year loss of $1.9 billion after writing down the value of its panel display business and a swathe of other assets.

The supplier of sensors and screens for Apple Inc’s iPhone reported a group net loss of 261 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in the year that ended in March, from a profit of 74 billion yen a year earlier.

The company said it would not pay a dividend.

Despite slightly higher sales, Sharp said it took a hit of 220 billion yen as it wrote down the value of building and machinery in both its LCD and OLED display businesses in Japan,