Panasonic Corp expects a record net loss of more than 700 billion yen for the year to March, Japanese media said, hit by write-downs for its Sanyo Electric acquisition and restructuring of its ailing TV division.

Japanese electronics makers have also been battered by a strong yen, a sluggish economy and natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, with rivals Sony Corp and Sharp Corp both posting much worse than expected results earlier in the week.

The Japanese manufacturers have struggled with hefty losses in their once-dominant TV operations, outflanked by more aggressive and nimble rivals such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics, while they lag innovators in key new technologies such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

"Panasonic like Sharp and Sony has structural problems," said Makoto Kikuchi, CEO of Myojo Asset Management in Tokyo, noting that all three needed to come to grips with problems in their TV businesses.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the debt ratings of Sony and Panasonic last month and retained a negative outlook for both, citing their continued losses on TVs.

The Mainichi newspaper said on Friday that Panasonic was still expecting to achieve a profit on an operating basis. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average have forecast a 124.2 billion yen operating profit for the year to March, compared with Panasonic's last forecast of 130 billion yen.