UPDATE 3-Hitachi profit jumps, TV repair darkens outlook

(Recasts with net profit, adds comments)

By Mayumi Negishi

TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Hitachi Ltd (6501.T), whose products range from washing machines to nuclear reactors, posted a tenfold surge in quarterly profit on hard drives, elevators and excavators, but the cost of fixing its struggling TV business saw it slash its outlook.

Hitachi, a sprawling electronics group whose 911 subsidiaries are split into booming infrastructure-related operations and slumping electronics, cut its annual outlook by 75 percent to a net profit of 10 billion yen.

That was sharply lower than the average analyst forecast for a net profit of 45 billion yen, Reuters estimates showed.

The downward revision underlines the costs still ahead as Hitachi, the world's No. 3 maker of disk drives, streamlines its operations and focuses on turning its cutting-edge research into profits.

Hitachi said its digital media and consumer products segment would post a loss of 98 billion yen in the year to March, deepening from an October forecast for a loss of 72 billion yen, as it staff, inventory and other turnaround costs build at its flat TV business.

Add in restructuring costs for projection TVs and DVDs and the bill will hit 30 billion yen this year, executives said, but analysts said there was more fat to be cut.

"It's clear which Hitachi businesses are doing well and which are not," said Yoshihisa Okamoto, senior vice president at Fuji Investment Management. "Hitachi really needs to think of a way to turn around its flat TVs."