Pioneer expects another loss

JAPAN'S Pioneer has warned the world and its dog its about to experience its sixth year in the red and will be taking an axe to rather a lot of its business.

The firm says it will pull the plug on its loss-making telly business, for a start, with thousands of workers set to be handed their P45s and pink slips.

According to AP, net losses have sky rocketed to $1.36 billion in the year up until March and the outfit expects to lose about $800 million this year.

Money is apparently hemorrhaging from Pioneer's car audio product division, plasma displays and DVD drives.

But, bizarrely, Pioneer reckons it can salvage the situation by slashing 10,000 jobs worldwide and shutting down its plasma display production facilities in the US and UK to focus on car electronics instead. After all, the car industry is going great guns at the moment.

Pioneer, of which Sharp owns a 14.3 per cent stake, will also go cap in hand to the government pleading for bail-out cash. It is also apparently planning to flog another 6.5 per cent stake to Honda to raise a bit of cash. µ