TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Limited (TCL Multimedia), a Guangdong-based television producer, is facing heavy losses for the first half of 2006.

The company's net losses amounted to 139 million Hong Kong dollars (17.38 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, and the figure was expected to rise even higher in the second quarter, Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

TCL Multimedia is estimated to suffer losses of 434 million yuan (54.25 million dollars) in entire 2006, according to analysts of Japan-based Tai Fook Security.

Senior officials of TCL Multimedia blamed the losses on its unexpectedly poor performance in the European market after the company purchased the Thomson TV business in 2004.

The turnover of TCL Multimedia in the European and North American markets amounted to 14.48 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.81 billion dollars) in 2005, accounting for 48 percent of its total business turnover.

However, fierce competition in both markets led to falling prices of its products. The company's economic losses in the two markets totaled 779 million Hong Kong dollars (97.38 million dollars) last year, said the report.

The share price of TCL Multimedia plunged by 8.86 percent to close at 0.72 Hong Kong dollars on Tuesday. The company's share price has slumped by 35.7 percent so far this year.

TCL, founded in south China's Guangdong Province in 1981, ranks first in China in terms of television output.

Source: Xinhua