NEC warns of crushing losses

NEWS NEC has warned of massive losses before tax for the year ending 31 March, following a nightmare 2001 for chip makers. NEC stated loses before tax would hit Y460bn (£2.4bn) and doubled its net loss for the year to Y300bn (£1.6bn) as sales were down by six per cent. The company is also making further job cuts, bringing the total for this year up to 14,000. Around 8,640 have already been announced. NEC followed its rivals Fujitsu and Toshiba, which made similar loss warnings earlier this week.