Tokyo - Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd incurred a net loss of 19.2 billion yen (214.7 million dollars) in the October-December quarter because of a strong yen and slow sales amid the global economic downturn, the company said Wednesday.

The conglomerate - which manufactures Subaru cars as well as trains, industrial products and aerospace technology - reported 10 billion yen in profit during the same quarter a year before.

Fuji Heavy also suffered an operating loss of 8.4 billion yen, down from 17.7 billion yen in quarterly operating profit a year before.

Sales dropped 8.6 per cent to 362.5 billion yen.

The company expected to suffer its first annual net loss in 15 years for the full fiscal year, which ends March 31. The loss was estimated at 19 billion yen, compared with 31.9 billion yen in profit a year before. Sales were expected to fall 8.4 per cent to 1.44 trillion yen, Fuji Heavy said. (dpa)