Japan's Sharp Corp posted an 86 percent drop in nine-month operating profit on Wednesday and cut its full-year profit forecast to zero, struggling with intense competition in the TV business in a weak global economy.

The manufacturer of Aquos LCD TVs reported an April-December operating profit of 9.14 billion yen ($120 million) versus 66.51 billion yen in the previous nine-month period.

Sharp had been expected to post more resilient results than Japanese consumer electronics giants Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp, which report later this week, aided by strength in large-screen TVs and a 10th-generation LCD panel plant.

For the financial year to March, Sharp cut its operating profit forecast to zero from 85 billion yen. That compared with the 68.6 billion yen consensus forecast of 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It also forecast a 290 billion yen net loss for the full year.

Sharp's shares have fallen 25 percent since the start of last year, compared with a 14 percent drop in Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average.

($1 = 76.21)

(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Joseph Radford)

Japan