Tepco sees Y570 bln net loss 2011/12 excluding compensation-Kyodo

TOKYO, June 5 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co is expected to post a parent-only net loss of 570 billion yen ($7 billion) for the year to March 2012, excluding compensation to those affected by the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

The company anticipated the huge loss as fuel costs are expected to expand by 830 billion yen due to the suspension of operations at the Fukushima plant and shifts to thermal power generation, Kyodo said, citing an internal document.

Engineers are battling to bring the plant under control more than two months after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and deadly tsunami led to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The March 11 disaster has triggered a drop of more than 80 percent in Tokyo Electric's share price and prompted the government to step in with a fund to handle compensation claims that some analysts say could top $100 billion.

The expected net loss does not cover compensation over the nuclear crisis as it is difficult for the company to calculate at the moment, Kyodo said.

For the business year that ended March 31, the company, commonly known as Tepco, posted a record 1.25 trillion yen net loss after accounting for the 1 trillion yen cost of scrapping reactors at the Fukushima complex and writing off tax assets. [ID:nLDE74J0B3]

The amount of cash and deposits held by Tepco is expected to fall below 100 billion yen at the end of March 2012 from about 2.1 trillion yen a year before, due to a rise in fuel costs and the redemption of corporate bonds, Kyodo said.

The company's sales for the current year are estimated to fall 1 percent from the previous year to 5,105 billion yen, it said.

($1 = 80.280 Japanese Yen) (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)