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A man rides an escalator past Sharp Corp's advertisements at an electronics retail store in Tokyo.Reuters
TOKYO: Japanese electronics maker Sharp said Thursday its first-half net loss shrank dramatically to $44 million as stronger sales and cost cuts boosted its bottom line.
The Osaka-based company lost 4.33 billion yen or $44 million in the April-September period, far smaller than a loss of 387 billion yen a year earlier as it undergoes a painful restructuring.
Sharp said it was profitable on the operating side, logging earnings of 33.82 billion yen in the first half as sales jumped 21.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.34 trillion yen.
The company credited the rise to strong demand for its liquid crystal display panels used in smartphones and tablet computers as well as solar panels.
It also pushed ahead with cutting labour and other fixed costs while reining in capital spending.
Sharp left unchanged its outlook for the full year to March 2014, expecting to return to profit.
It estimates full-year net earnings of 5.0 billion yen and an operating profit of 80 billion yen with sales forecast to grow 8.9 percent to 2.7 trillion yen. (AFP)
