* Op loss 28.8 bln yen vs 21.2 bln yen analyst view
* Loss comes after weak smartphone display sales
* To sell Mexico TV plant, license brand to China's Hisense
* May consider strategic deal for LCD business -CEO
(Adds Hisense comment on purchase price, Sharp comments on
further restructuring)
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Sharp Corp 6753.T on Friday
said it would exit the TV set business in the Americas and
consider more steps to shore up its finances, after reporting a
deeper-than-expected quarterly loss on weak sales of smartphone
displays.
The Japanese electronics maker said it would sell its TV
manufacturing plant in Mexico and license its brand in the
Americas to China's Hisense Group. In a separate statement,
Hisense said it would pay $23.7 million for the business.
Osaka-based Sharp was once a highly profitable manufacturer
of premium TVs and a favoured screen supplier to Apple Inc
AAPL.O , but has struggled to innovate enough to fend off Asian
rivals.
In May, the company sought $1.9 billion in its second major
bank-led financing in three years. In return, it promised to cut
5,000 jobs, or 10 percent of staff.
"Sharp has not been able to fully adapt to the intensifying
market competition, which led to significantly lower profits
compared to the initial projections for the previous fiscal
year, and has been suffering from poor earnings performance,"
Sharp said in a statement explaining the TV business sale.
Investors and analysts have called for Sharp to overhaul its
liquid crystal display (LCD) and consumer electronics divisions.
Chief Executive Kozo Takahashi initially resisted but on Friday
said he was open to major restructuring including some kind of
strategic deal for its LCD business.
"The market environment is now even tougher than what we
expected in May" when Sharp sought financing, Takahashi told
reporters.
"We haven't yet made any specific decision, but we need to
consider a wider range of options than we did back in May ...
when we said we were definitely going to carry on with the LCD
business in its current form."
For April-June, Sharp booked an operating loss of 28.8
billion yen ($231.87 million), from 4.7 billion yen profit a
year prior. The result was worse than the 21.2 billion yen
average loss estimate of 14 analysts polled by Reuters.
Net loss deepened to 34 billion yen from 1.8 billion yen.
For the full year through March, Sharp reiterated its
operating profit forecast of 80 billion yen, saying, "The goal
is a V-shaped recovery."
Ahead of the results, shares of Sharp closed unchanged from
the previous day compared with a 0.3 percent rise in the broader
market .N225 . Its stock has fallen nearly 50 percent over the
past year due to concern about the firm's long-term prospects.
($1 = 124.2100 yen)