TOKYO: Panasonic said Friday its net loss reached $7.5 billion in the year to March on falling demand, but pledged it would return to profit by next March.

The struggling electronics giant logged a 754.25 billion yen ($7.5 billion) in net loss over the year to March, slightly trimming a 772.17-billion-yen net loss seen in the previous year.

Its operating profit however jumped 268 percent to 160.94 billion yen as the firm carried out aggressive cost cutting and reform programmes, while sales came to 7.3 trillion yen, down 6.9 percent.