Tokyo - Toshiba Corp posted an operating loss for the first quarter through June 30, mainly due to sluggish sales in its flash memory business, the company said Tuesday.

The Japanese home electronics company's operating loss amounted to 24.2 billion yen (228.1 million dollars) in the April-June period, down 45.4 billion yen from the same period a year before.

Toshiba incurred a net loss of 11.61 billion yen, down 32.2 billion yen, from a net profit of 20.63 billion yen a year before.

Sales dipped to 1.62 trillion yen, down 45.9 billion yen from a year before, due to a yen's advance against the US dollar and steep declines in semiconductor sales prices, Toshiba said. (dpa)