Tokyo - Panasonic Corp said Wednesday it expected to suffer the first annual net loss in six years due to slow sales of digital consumer electronics.

The company's net loss was to reach 380 billion yen (4.25 billion dollars) for fiscal 2008 that ends March 31, which would force cuts of about 15,000 jobs worldwide by March 2010, it said.

Panasonic also plans to close 13 plants in Japan and 14 others abroad by March due to declining demands for its products.

For the full year, the firm expected to incur and operating loss of 60 billion yen, down 88 per cent from a year before, and to report sales of 7.75 trillion yen, down 15 per cent.

For the April to December period, the company's net profit tumbled 70 per cent from a year earlier to 65.38 billion yen. Operating profit fell 34 per cent to 254.52 billion yen. Sales dipped 9 per cent to 6.22 trillion yen, the company said.