Sharp to seek job cuts in Europe, forge ties with local firms

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sharp Corp <6753.T> said on Friday that it would seek 300 job cuts in Europe and pursue cooperative ties in household electronics with two companies in the region in a renewed round of restructuring of its European operations. The electronics maker said it would grant use of its TV brand in Europe to Universal Media Corp (UMC) Slovakia while a sales unit of Turkish electronics firm Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS would receive use of its home appliances brand. Sharp also said it was in talks with UMC about transferring its Polish TV factory to the Slovakia firm. Sharp said it would book a 6.4 billion yen ($58.7 million) special loss related to the moves in the second quarter. It expects no change to its full-year profit forecasts. Sharp has been cutting costs and exiting unprofitable operations since it suffered a massive 545 billion yen net loss in the year ended March 2013. In July, Sharp pulled out of solar panel production in Europe. (Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Edmund Klamann)