Sony has warned it expects to suffer a Yen 220 billion (around £1.8bn) net loss for the full year – much worse than the Yen 90bn loss it had forecast in November.

Several reasons were cited for the bigger than expected losses now expected in the financial year ending March 31– this will be the fourth year in a row that Sony has recorded a loss.

In the third quarter to December 31, Sony reported pre-tax losses of Yen 105.9bn against a profit of Yen 131.5bn in the same quarter a year earlier.

The impact of the floods in Thailand, a deterioration in market conditions in developed countries and unfavourable foreign exchange rates were all said to have caused consolidated sales to decrease by 17.4 per cent year-on-year to Yen 1.8 trillion.

Operating results for the quarter in the consumer products and services division, which houses Sony’s TV business, deteriorated significantly year-on-year. Sales were down 24.4 per cent to Yen 996.5bn and the division made an operating loss of Yen 85.7bn against a profit of Yen 63.5bn for the same period the year before.

Contributing to the deterioration were LCD TVs “reflecting a decline in unit selling prices that exceeded cost and expense reductions” and the game business.