Tokyo  - Toshiba Corp on Thursday revised downward its earnings forecast for the full business year that ends in March to post its first net loss in seven years as the global recession slowed demand for semiconductors and liquid crystal displays for televisions.

The Japanese home electronics company expected a net loss of 280 billion yen (3.13 billion dollars) for the full year after earlier forecasting a net profit of 70 billion yen in September.

Toshiba was also to suffer an operating loss of 280 billion yen, compared to an earlier projection of operating profits of 150 billion yen, the company said.

Net sales for the year would amount to 6.7 trillion yen, down from 7.7 trillion yen that the company projected in September. (dpa)