Consumer electronics manufacturer Sharp has reported a return to profit during its third quarter, despite relatively flat sales numbers.
The Osaka-based company said it had earned a net profit of 9.1 billion yen during Q3, compared to a 65.8 billion yen loss reported a year previous. This was below an estimate of 11.1 billion yen profit forecast by Thomson Reuters analysts.
Sales were up to just 735.3 billion yen from the 735.1 billion yen reported in the same quarter in 2008.
Most of the third-quarter was due to an improvement in earnings from LCD TVs and a reduction in costs.
The Japanese company said that during the nine months to the end of December 2009 it had seen a recovery in some areas, including private consumption and production, supported by government stimulus packages.
However, the group said that the Japanese economy overall remained in a “difficult situation”, and forecast a “limited” recovery in the US economy and in the European economies.
The Chinese economy, in contrast, is on the track of recovery with growing domestic demand spurred by active economic measures on the part of the government, Sharp said.
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com
