Nov. 6--TOKYO -- NEC Corp. said Friday it will raise up to 134.0 billion yen by the end of this month through new share offerings in Japan and abroad to shore up its financial base and invest in businesses with growth potential, including those involving cloud computing and lithium-ion batteries for eco-friendly cars.

It is the first time since 2003 that NEC will conduct a public stock offering.

The firm joins a string of other electronics makers who fell into the red in fiscal 2008, which ended in March, and are scrambling to boost their capital.

Toshiba Corp. raised about 300 billion yen in public stock offerings in June and chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc. has increased its capital worth about 90 billion yen, including via public funds.

NEC incurred a group net loss of 296.65 billion yen in fiscal 2008 after reporting 22.68 billion yen in net profit the previous year.

NEC's capital-to-asset ratio stood at 20.9 percent as of Sept. 30, down from 28.5 percent on March 31, 2008.

NEC said its offer price will be decided between Nov. 18 and 20.

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