Olympus is reportedly on course to make a 32 billion yen (£260m) loss for the year to 31 March 2012, as it reels from a £1.1 billion accounting cover-up.
The forecasted loss, announced overnight, compares with a 3.87 billion yen net profit the previous year.
The news will put further pressure on Olympus to sort out its finances and is likely to intensify speculation of an imminent strategic tie-up with another company.
Last week, Samsung declined to comment when asked by Amateur Photographer whether it was set to propose a tie-up with Olympus.
Olympus reported a loss of 756 million yen (£6.2 million) in the third quarter of 2011, compared with a 2.04-billion yen profit for the same period in 2010, according to news agency Reuters.
An English version of the results had yet to be posted on the Olympus website at the time of writing.
News Update: Olympus results released
Last week Olympus confirmed that it received a lawsuit from Michael Woodford, the ousted CEO who blew the whistle on the financial scandal that stretches back to the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Woodford last week told reporters that he plans to write a book about his experiences.
The book is described as an autobiographical account of the events at Olympus and issues surrounding corporate governance. The first version will be in Japanese, with a UK launch planned for later this year.
Woodford recently said he believed it was ‘highly likely’ there would be further revelations to come and urged all interested parties to ‘closely scrutinise events’.
He also confirmed his intention to attend an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting in Japan on 20 April.
Last week, Olympus announced a new micro four thirds digital camera called the OM-D E-M5.
It sports a design harking back to the company’s OM-series of film cameras launched four decades ago.
