Japan's Sharp Corp. said Tuesday demand for mobile telephones, electronic devices and other digital products led to a 64.4 percent surge in interim net profit and record-breaking sales.
The Osaka-based consumer electronics firm said group net profit totaled 18.9 billion yen (173.4 million dollars) in the six months to September.
Sales rose 6.9 percent to a record 985.2 billion yen, while pre-tax profit jumped 65.4 percent to 39.4 billion yen, Sharp said.
Overseas revenue dipped 4.5 percent to 433.0 billion yen in the six months, mainly owing to a strong yen, it said in a statement.
But sales in Japan gained 18.0 percent to 552.2 billion yen, bolstered by brisk shipments of information technology equipment, including mobile phones and crystal display monitors, and electronic devices.
For the full year to March 2001, Sharp forecast a net profit of 38 billion yen and pre-tax profit of 80 billion yen on sales of 2.04 trillion yen -- TOKYO (AFP)
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