TOKYO — Sony said today its net profit plunged 95 percent in the October-December quarter, as the holiday shopping season provided no respite for the struggling electronics giant and tepid sales of TVs, digital cameras and mobile phones hit its bottom line.

The Japanese manufacturing icon said its usually dependable electronics division posted its first operating loss for the fiscal third quarter. It also reiterated its forecast for a net loss of $1.67 billion for the full fiscal year through March — its first loss in 14 years.

Sony Corp. said net profit shriveled to $115.6 million in the third quarter.

The quarter includes the year's peak shopping season and is usually a big one for its core electronics division, which generates over half of total revenues with well-known products like Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Vaio computers. But sales of such products fell nearly across the board as consumers held back.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eastman Kodak says it is eliminating 3,500 to 4,500 jobs, or 14 percent to 18 percent of its payroll, as it posted a $137 million loss for the fourth quarter.Kodak says sales and profits from both digital and film-based photography products plummeted.The Rochester, N.Y.-based company said Thursday that its loss amounted to 51 cents a share in the last three months of the year. That compares with a year-ago profit of $215 million, or 75 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, the loss came to $21 million, or 8 cents a share.It says sales fell 24 percent to $2.43 billion, as digital revenue fell 23 percent and traditional film-based revenue slumped 27 percent.

NEW YORK — Consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive says fourth-quarter profit jumped nearly 20 percent, helped by cost-cutting, higher prices and new products.Profit rose to $497 million, or 94 cents per share, from $414.9 million, or 77 cents per share, last year.Excluding restructuring charges, Colgate-Palmolive posted a profit of $527.5 million, or $1 per share, in the most recent quarter.Sales rose to $3.66 billion from $3.64 billion a year ago.Chief Executive Ian Cook says cost-cutting and new products helped results during the quarter, despite a tough economy.

NEW YORK — Starbucks Corp. plans to slash nearly 7,000 more jobs during a new round of store closures and other cuts, the company said as it reported Wednesday that its profit dropped by more than two-thirds in its fiscal first quarter.The gourmet coffee chain plans to close 300 underperforming stores around the world — including 200 in the U.S. — by the end of the fiscal year in addition to the 600 U.S. stores it began closing this summer.Starbucks also plans to lay off about 700 nonstore employees and has reduced the number of new stores it plans to open.The cuts and changes will result in about $500 million in savings in fiscal 2009, the company said.With the recession now well into its second year, consumers concerned more about the possibility of losing their jobs than maintaining a $4 daily latte habit are increasingly forgoing the company's brew.Starbucks also has had to make room for a new lower-priced competitor in the specialty-coffee industry since McDonald's Corp. introduced espresso-based coffee drinks in its U.S. stores.