Japan's Toshiba is likely to book a $986 million loss in its high-definition DVD business and post a full-year operating profit of about $2.44 billion, falling short of its outlook, the Nikkei business daily said Thursday.
Shares of Toshiba opened down 2.3 percent at 717 yen ($7) on the report.
Toshiba's decision to pull the plug on HD DVDs will entail production line changes and other charges that would double the 50 billion yen ($488.5 million) loss the electronics group had previously expected this business year on next-generation DVDs, the Nikkei said.
"We did not announce this, and therefore we cannot comment," a Toshiba representative said.
The industrial electronics group has said it expects an operating profit of 290 billion yen for the year through March, but executives said the outlook for the world's No. 2 maker of NAND flash memory may be hurt by price falls in microchips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
Since Toshiba's announcement, Japanese retailer Edion has offered to swap HD DVD players purchased at its stores with rival format Blu-ray players, with consumers footing the retail price difference.
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Shares of Toshiba were trading down 1.5 percent at 723 yen ($7.06) on Thursday, compared with the benchmark Nikkei average's 1 percent fall.
