Pioneer Q1 in red, keeps annual loss forecast

TOKYO Aug 6 (Reuters) - Japanese auto and consumer electronics maker Pioneer Corp (6773.T) reported a quarterly loss due to sluggish car sales and a stronger yen, and stuck to its outlook for a sixth straight year of losses.

Net losses at Pioneer, which competes with Panasonic Corp (6752.T) and Clarion Co Ltd (6796.T) in car navigation systems, were 4.1 billion yen ($43.1 million) in April-June, compared with a 9.49 billion yen loss a year earlier. Pioneer's home electronics operations have been in the red in recent years, hurt by fierce competition with larger rivals such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), and its car electronics division was hit by slumping car sales amid the global downturn. For the full year to March 2010, Pioneer maintained its net loss forecast of 83 billion yen on Thursday. That compares with the consensus of a 78.3 billion yen loss in a poll of 8 analysts by Reuters, and a 130.53 billion yen loss a year earlier.

Shares in Pioneer, which is withdrawing from its flat TV business and focusing resources on auto electronics, more than doubled from April to Wednesday, outstripping a 31 percent gain in the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index. .IELEC.T ($1=95.06 Yen) (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka)