Toyota seen posting 500 bln yen FY08 oper loss - Nikkei

* May see 2008 oper loss of 500 bln yen

* May reduce 2008 dividend to about 100 yen per share

* Expected to slash capital spending

May 8 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is expected to report a consolidated operating loss of about 500 billion yen for the year ended March 31, due to the worldwide slump in automobile sales and a strong yen, The Nikkei business daily said.

Toyota had earlier projected a 450 billion yen operating loss, the paper said.

The company may also cut its annual dividend for fiscal 2008 to about 100 yen per share, compared with 140 yen in the previous year, it said.

The Nikkei said the payout cut would mark Toyota's first dividend cut since it changed the end of its fiscal year to March in fiscal 1994.

Sales for fiscal 2008 are believed to have fallen by about 20 percent to about 21 trillion yen. Toyota is expected to post a net loss of more than 500 billion yen, compared with an earlier forecast of 350 billion yen, the newspaper said.

Toyota is seen logging an operating loss of about 700 billion yen for fiscal 2009, it said. The company is expected to slash capital spending by about 500 billion yen in fiscal 2009 to roughly 900 billion yen to improve competitiveness, as the firm is preparing for an expected recovery in demand in the second half of the year, it added. (Reporting by Archana Shankar in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)