OSAKA, JAPAN: Sharp Swings to Profit in Third Quarter on Cost Cuts

February 03, 2010, 02:40 AM EST

By Mariko Yasu

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, turned to profit in the third quarter helped by lower expenses including labor costs.

Net income was 9.1 billion yen ($101 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of 65.8 billion yen a year earlier, the Osaka-based company said today. That compares with the 9.8 billion yen median of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, was 21 billion yen in the quarter, compared with a loss of 15.9 billion yen a year earlier. Sales were little changed at 735.3 billion yen.

Sharp said it has already cut costs by 179 billion yen for the current fiscal year by reducing executive salaries and eliminating 1,500 temporary jobs. The company has focused on reducing expenses as it has lost market share for LCD panels to South Korean rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Display Co.

Sharp slipped 0.4 percent to close at 1,132 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange before earnings were reported. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 percent.

The cost reductions included trimming Sharp’s payroll bill by 42.5 billion yen in the nine months ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier and cutting asset depreciation charges by 32.6 billion yen, the company said.

Trailing Korean Rivals

Sharp’s revenue from large panels rose 43 percent in December from a year earlier, while Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung and LG Display posted sales increases of 97 percent and 127 percent respectively, researcher DisplaySearch said last month.

Profit at the consumer electronics division, which includes LCD televisions and mobile phones, was 14 billion yen, compared with a shortfall of 18.5 billion yen a year earlier, Sharp said. Income at the device unit, which handles solar-cell and LCD- panel operations, almost tripled to 4.4 billion yen from 1.5 billion yen.

“We can’t foresee what will happen to the overall economy but businesses in China and other developing countries are growing,” Tetsuo Onishi, an executive officer at Sharp’s accounting group told reporters in Tokyo.

Sharp maintained its forecasts for net income of 3 billion yen and operating profit of 50 billion yen on sales of 2.75 trillion yen for the year ending March 31 2010. The company also kept unchanged its projection for annual sales of TVs at 10 million units.

--With assistance from Maki Shiraki. Editors: Jonathan Annells, Suresh Seshadri.

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