Tokyo - Hitachi Ltd on Tuesday said its net loss expanded in the third quarter and it also reiterated it would incur its worst annual loss for fiscal 2008 that ends in March.

The weak performance was attributed to sales declines in semiconductors, automotive devices, industrial machinery among other products as well as the yen's surge against other currencies.

Japan's biggest home electronics company reported a net loss of 371 billion yen (4.14 billion dollars) for the three months between October and December, down from a net profit of 12.5 billion yen during the same quarter the year before.

The company also suffered an operating loss of 14.52 billion yen during the quarter, down from 77.87 billion yen profit year-on-year. Sales declined 16 per cent to 2.26 trillion yen.

For the full year through March, Hitachi said it expected to incur a loss of 700 billion yen, which would be the largest loss in its history. (dpa)