Toshiba posts stable net profit of Y470 mil

Japanese technology conglomerate Toshiba on Thursday posted a stable net profit of 470 million yen in the three months to June despite the negative impact of the March earthquake and tsunami. The company's net profit for the quarter was up 0.9% from a year earlier, as the company managed to minimize the impact of the seismic disaster on its operations, it said.

The company, whose operations range from consumer electronics to nuclear power plants, managed to secure profit as lower restructuring costs and solid sales of energy-saving appliances in Japan lessened the sting.

Operating profit tumbled 87.8% to 4.1 billion yen as sales fell 8.6% to 1.33 trillion yen, "mainly reflecting yen appreciation and the impact of the earthquake," the company said in a statement.

The March 11 disaster damaged some of Toshiba's production facilities and disrupted supplies of parts and raw materials.

Toshiba's April-June operating profit would have been 25 billion yen higher, and its revenue 90 billion yen greater had it not been for the natural disaster, the company said.

It left unchanged its earlier forecasts for the full year to March 2012, predicting net profit would rise 1.6% to 140 billion yen. Operating profit is estimated at 300 billion yen on sales of 7 trillion yen.

© 2011 Agence France-Presse