Munich - Shares in German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG plunged Wednesday after the group's loss widened and the company warned about a tough year ahead in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Munich-based Infineon said its net loss in the group's fourth quarter to the end of September grew to 763 million euros (963 million dollars) compared to 280 million euros in the same period last year.

Europe's second biggest semiconductor maker expects its sales to fall 15 per cent in the 12 months ending September next year with the company having launched a cost-cutting programme aimed at saving more than 200 million euros by the end of its 2009 fiscal year.

Infineon's announcement of the net loss sent its shares tumbling by more than 20 per cent to 1.26 euros in early trading in Frankfurt.

The group's stock has plunged by about 80 per cent since the start of this year.

"The financial crisis and the economic slowdown have already impacted the worldwide semiconductor market, which is reflected in significantly weakened demand in all of our target markets," Infineon chief Peter Bauer said. (dpa)